[Violet]

My husband and I winter in the southwest.
This year I invited a woman who has been my best friend since grade school to come with us. This woman is also one of our employees...she is my housekeeper in Ohio (however bringing here here to AZ this year is strictly for fun and she is really enjoying it!).
The thing is that tomorrow is my husband's birthday and we have planned our usual party with his AZ friends and business associates in attendance.
He's stressing now because his business associates (and some of his friends here) are outright snobs and he is asking me to "uninvite" my best friend to share our winter for "just this one night".
I'm blown away. He says he knows his friends are going to put her on the spot since she'll be a new face in the crowd and everyone has gone through their personal interrogations -a ritual they perform in order to determine people's social status within their own little circle. He says he doesn't want her to be embarassed (by her position as a housekeeper in Ohio) and that he doesn't want to be embarassed BY HER by having one of his domestics in attendance at his party.
SHE IS HIS FRIEND!!! We've been friends nearly all our lives and he has nver treated her with anything but kindness for as long as she has been working for us (one day a week for many years).
He wants me at his party. I'd rather take my friend out shopping in the malls and then out to one of my favorite restaurants while Steve's gang of snobs is at the house.
Suggestions?

[ 01-21-2005, 01:41 PM: Message edited by: Violet ]