Hard to say without knowing the conversations or what the recipients are like.

Personally, I try to keep texts to quick messages, as I’m not one for text conversations. If someone started throwing blocks of text at me, expecting me to keep up the conversation, I’d just call them. If they didn’t want to talk, then it probably wouldn’t be long before I just stopped reading the texts.

I think people are within their right to choose who they celebrate with, especially if the person in question isn’t someone they know. I don’t know how far apart everyone is, but would you be able to take off early and spend a few hrs with your friend?