Holiday parties. Or not.

At one point in the holiday season, someone will approach me about a holiday party. I'll get an e-mail during the preliminary stages of planning, when a date hasn't yet been set.

"Just check your calendar and tell me a few dates that could work," the host or hostess will say. "I know everyone's busy during this time or year."

I'll wait a few moments before sending back a few scattered calendar dates. "This is when my schedule is open," I'll reply.

It's purely a charade. My schedule is ALWAYS open.

I've kept my lackluster holiday social life under wraps for a little while because, well, it doesn't seem normal.

You always hear stories about people having to buy an LBD that will function for three shindigs, plus new sparkly heals and a buttload of Secret Santa gifts.

Are holiday parties really that prevalent?

Fortunately, a Jezebel writer understands my vacant calendar. In a recent post, "The Myth of the Holiday Party," she writes:

I'm sure there are some jobs — PR, maybe — that involve plenty of corporate sponsorship and lavish open bars and themed cocktails and maybe even the occasional bejeweled clutch.

But that's like .02 percent of the population: come December, is everyone else just really overdressed, bullied into buying something "festive," standing around clutching a paper cup in someone's apartment kitchen?

Share your thoughts in the comments section.