Gatecrashers

THE word “gatecrasher” comes from the 1920s and refers to those who join an event (like a party or a concert) without an invitation or ticket. In the ’60s, local usage of the word embraced parties where gate passes were issued to legitimate guests.

- By Tony Samson

Uninvited guests who join a social gathering without a formal invitation are not always opportunists looking for a free meal. They can be photo bombers just out for getting photos taken with VIPs at an event.

Staying with friends or relatives abroad can raise the prospect of being dragged to a party as an uninvited guest. (You know one of her cousins.) The accidental house-guest who is not counted in the original group gets thrown into the social pot — can I bring along my cousin and her family who are visiting from Manila and staying with me?

Regular friends have their own Viber group sharing inside jokes and common topics, like the deferred impeachment or immigrant woes abroad. Staying out of hearing distance, and in conversational exile, allows the host and his original guests not to work too hard to include the accidental guest in their chatter. They are not obliged to explain punch lines of obscure jokes which send everyone else rolling in the aisles.

Gatecrashers are kept away at bigger gatherings at exclusive clubs or hotel function rooms. There is a desk by the entrance that screens out the social hitchhiker.