Party of One Please

Group work sucks.  I don't care where you're at in your life or what you are working on - group work sucks.  I know that I tend to think that I can do everything myself and sometimes bite off more than I can chew but I just don't play well with others.  My daughter brought to my attention the other day a whole new concept in the world of education - the group test.  Remember when you had to study and take a test to prove what YOU understood and remembered about a topic.  My hubby has to work as part of a group at his place of employment on occasion.  He always ends up doing way more than his fair share of the work.  This is the problem with group work.  There is always one person in the group who simply doesn't care.  Someone always ends up picking up this person's slack.  Your choice is have a poor final product or do their work for them.  In my personal life, I am even encountering this even today.  I am planning a baby shower for my brother's wife.  Sounds innocent enough.  Then my mother, her mother and her sister all decided to "help".  Ta da!  Instant dysfunctional group.  Things were delegated and now we are waiting for the person handling invitations to actually send them out.  They were supposed to go out last weekend.  What am I to do?  I shouldn't have to call and check on this person but I know they are not doing their job.  It may be a baby shower but I shouldn't have to babysit a fully functional adult.  Maybe they should start to mark things like "excels at group work" or "happily pulls her own weight" on your driver's license.  Then you could ask someone to see their license and you'd know what you were getting yourself into.  There are so many possibilities that could be included.  "Shallow" or "tends to cheat" would be great ones.  Then we wouldn't have to worry about choosing a friend or even a mate.  Until that time, I will have to deal with group work.  But if asked how I would like to handle things, I will always request to fly solo.