I feel terrible. If only I’d seen Thessa’s Facebook invitation—and if only I’d been in Hamburg—I’d gladly have stopped by to help her celebrate her birthday. Sing with me, everyone: Hoch soll sie leben!

Oh, well … she probably didn’t miss me. Because 15,000 other people said they were coming, and 1,500 actually showed up.

Photo credit: Associated Press /  Stefan Simonsen via Ottawa CTV

Yup, that’s what happens when you screw up your Facebook privacy settings and accidentally invite the ENTIRE INTERNET to your 16^th birthday party.

My favorite account of the festivities came from The Slate:

After 15,000 people confirmed they were coming, Thessa’s parents canceled the party. … But that wasn’t enough to stop 1,500 people from showing up and having a good time. About 100 police were dispatched to control the crowd. … When the smoke cleared ­– seriously: firefighters extinguished two small fires – police spokesman Mirko Streiber declared the party “a hit,” adding that it was “sheer insanity but mostly peaceful.”

Perhaps you should think twice before inviting Streiber to your next get-together, if his idea of a hit includes 11 detained party-goers, one injured police officer, and “dozens of girls wearing flip-flops cut[ting] their feet on broken glass.”

Think twice before inviting Streiber to my next get-together? Oh, mais non! Striber just shot to the top of my guest list. “Sheer insanity, but mostly peaceful” sounds exactly like my kind of birthday party.

Anyway … alles Gute zum Geburstag, Thessa!