Girls have birthday parties, and they invite each and every one of their friends. If one of those friends doesn’t show up, better for that person to have never been born than to have to face the wrath of an angry birthday girl.

Essentially, women use birthday parties as an annual checklist of their friends. Whoever shows up at the party gets a reprieve for another calendar year. Whoever is notably absent is put on the chopping block. No call, no text, no gift? Soon, that “friend” is going to find herself de-friended on Facebook, un-followed on Twitter, and #-erased on the cell.

I personally think that’s a bit harsh. Birthdays are important days, especially the milestones (i.e. 18, 21, and 30), but celebrating each one like it’s a mid-year Christmas is asking too much. The fact of the matter is that nobody cares as much about your birthday as you do. While guys, in my opinion, understand this and generally want their parties to be fun nights to hang out with friends, women invest much more energy into making sure that everything turns out perfectly and everyone shows up and has a great time.