This weekend I was off to a baby shower for a co-worker. I realized the day before the event that there was a high probability that I would know no-one there. I couldn't think of anyone else she would invite (after all we work in IT in the financial services industry - the double whammy of male control - only the US Congress has a higher % of male employees).
On the way there, I came up with my plan. When I arrived, I would scan the room for a Chatty McChatty anld sit near them. That way I wouldn't have to carry any conversations, no awkward pauses to survive... the worst that could happen is I could be bored for awhile. I walked in, someone came up to me, scurried away with my gift, didn't introduce herself and left me standing there, looking around hopelessly. To my left was a table of sullen looking teenaged girls. Oh right, she has a baby sister. No, this is not the table for me. To my right, a table full of elderly people looking around at everyone. Yes, it's the grandparents table and I can almost hear the bubbles above their heads: wow, she's gained weight! When will cousin Mary get married? And Joanne and her husband - when will they get around to having a baby. This is not the table for me. I continue my sweep around the room and finally spied a woman gesturing wildly at a table and laughing loudly with 2 others: AH! That's my play! And that is how this Irish girl ended up at the table of Italian aunts and cousins and nearly pissed her pants laughing for 3 hours.
No topic was off limits for discussion... all their stories about the births of their children, whose husband fainted during the delivery, how big boobs catch food that may fall off your fork, how the elderly, completely expressionless waiter was clearly hitting on us, quitting smoking, the best restaurants in Florence, how fried shrimp is really a diet food...
Through the course of the event, I found that people react to a stranger like me in one of three ways:
1. Think: I don't know her, so I will act as if she is completely invisible
2. Think: I don't know her, so I will introduce myself and ask who she is
3. Think: I don't think I know her, but I must since she is here, so I will just pretend I know who she is.
It is this last group that I has the most fun with. One of the grandmothers hugged me and told me it was good to see me again. A younger person asked how I was doing since we last saw each other at the wedding (I didn't know Preg-o when she got married). How I enjoyed going along: I've been great since the wedding! Started a new job last spring, etc.
What a great way to spend an afternoon!
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