I come from a relatively antisocial family. My wife says that I was never taught to say hello or goodbye. I’m probably not what you would characterize as shy, but outside of work I’m comfortable keeping to myself. On our honeymoon cruise, when everyone went around introducing themselves, I initially said that I was declining to answer questions on the advice of counsel. But then my wife elbowed me and I loosened up a bit.
In truth, I’m completely comfortable on my own, engrossed in a book or in my work. In elementary school, I was the world’s biggest nerd in that I spent many recesses reading in some corner of the playground. I was also the world’s biggest nerd in that I was almost 6 feet tall by sixth grade. Needless to say I was never bullied…until meeting above mentioned wife.
“Be friendly to people,” she said as we walked into the party. I tried on a TV anchor smile and got elbowed yet again. I thought about hugging the first person I was introduced to, a lovely lady in an evening dress, but my ribs were still hurting…
The party was actually filled with interesting people, about half of them dressed with jeans, big belt buckles and boots. The men were also dressed fairly well… All in all, it was a typical party in Tijuana, a mix of city and rural people. There were apple martinis and carnitas tacos. I was dressed in a guayabera shirt, slacks, shiny black oxford shoes and looked the part of either a tourist or a Cuban landowner.
I tried my best to engage people in conversation. I talked to my tablemates. “You know, I never can find cowboy boots that go with my suits…” I joked around with the waiter who was supplying the never ending drinks. And I drank a good number of fruity martini’s- making the round of apple, coconut, melon, tamarindo and other assorted flavors that no self respecting macho man would be caught dead drinking. I say no self respecting macho man drinks fruity drinks.
Okay, I'll admit, they were delicious!
They say alcohol makes you more sociable. In my case, it doesn’t exactly work this way. I do talk more to people, but sometimes it’s just to indulge a childish sense of humor.
I took a picture with a heavy set guy, explaining to my wife later that I wanted to post the picture on facebook so that people would think I lost weight. I then commented to a guy with tattoos running up and down his arm that I liked to use the same font when drafting legal pleadings.
You’d think at some point that people would get annoyed by the antics, but everyone was in a fruity martini mood. Even I listened patiently as I listened to people’s attorney jokes.
Maybe alcohol does make mingling easier. I’ll have to do some research on this… Hopefully the wife won't mind.
