Corny Dialogue

About the only thing harder than going up to strangers to try to start a conversation, is not getting discouraged when things don't go well. After Mass on Wednesday, Sr. Sarah requested to the rest of the congregation that she needed more drivers to help drive freshmen to and from a retreat being held for them this weekend. I perked up at this opportunity because this was an easy way to get to meet new people (yes, even I agree the freshmen are way too young, just go with me here), and do something good for a change because I am by far the most self-serving person I know. But in a special way I thought it would be nice in that this time I would be able to give my passengers a treat by way of a ride in my kitty-cat. And sure enough the three guys I wound up with were quite thrilled to get to ride for a half-hour with me. And tomorrow I'll get to take another three back. So that was nice. I do like volunteering and making people happy, I should probably get over my last fiasco and do more (see Squirrel Nests).

After that I had a free evening ahead with many opportunities. A concert was being held where I work, a sweet corn festival was going on in the neighboring town, and my own place brought in a circus. I decided to skip the concert and start with the circus.

I love circuses. I love watching the performers and the trained animals. I even love the clowns. So I was very intrigued by the notion that my complex was bringing in a circus. The problem is that circuses are hot-spots for families. I knew walking on over about all I was going to see were established families and little children running around but I went anyway. My plan was to find someone who I pass by on my walks around the pond but have never talked to. There are quite a few residents here that I see nearly everyday from walking around that I've never introduced myself to. But unfortunately I did not see any of them at the circus, and as I expected it was mostly all families and children. As I was walking through I saw something far more eye-catching than the circus performers. Just as I was leaving the main crowd, I passed by a lady standing off to the side lighting up a cigarette. Now I have had precious little exposure to pregnant women but she was pregnant if I've ever seen one. I couldn't believe it. Never in a million years would I have thought to see, in this day and age, pregnant lady smoking. I almost said something, I was really close, but then I thought that maybe just maybe she wasn't pregnant. Like I said, I haven't been around really anyone who has been pregnant so I don't know precisely what they look like, but she had all the signs. So instead of saying something I decided to play it safe and give her one of my "if looks could kill" faces with a little sake of the head left and right. Unfortunately she didn't look at me as I passed by.

I finished my walk and headed back up to my place. Today is Friday and that means Monk is on. Yet, while I was in Charlottesville, WAM had to go and say that if I'm watching Monk in my apartment on a Friday night, I have absolutely no chance of meeting someone, whereas if even I just go outside for a walk there is at least the possibility no matter how remote. Stupid WAM you've ruined the one thing I look forward to each week! So I recorded it, and headed back out to try my luck at the sweet corn festival.

Even on the way I had little hopes this was going to be worth it. My plan was to walk around and see if I could find anyone I know, or maybe some other person wandering around that I could talk to. Amazingly I don't think 5 minutes went by for any length of time where I didn't see someone I knew. Right away I ran into the person who originally hired me at my current job, although he himself is no longer with the company. Then I walked by a girl who was with a group of unfamiliar friends. This girl is involved with the Church I go to, and I've seen her a bunch. So we caught each other's eye, said "Hi" real quick and I kept on walking. This is because I am shy. She was with a group of people I didn't know, I couldn't think of anything to say right off the bat, and I don't like just forcing myself upon people. Then I grew a pair and made a u-turn. She was in line to get some sweet corn, but in order to get the corn you have to have tickets. So I had to find a place that sold the tickets, and get in line. I was hoping that maybe I could somehow get the tickets and get in line with them, since they were at the back. However, by the time I got in line they were already eating their corn. Still unperturbed I got my corn, and walked over to her and said 'Hello' once more. I said I didn't mean to be rude earlier by just saying 'Hi' and walking off, but that I was trying to find a ticket counter so I could get in line to get the corn (actually there's no lie in that, sort of). She either bought that line, or at least pretended to go along with it for my sake, because we properly introduced and talked for about 15 or 20 minutes. Then I excused myself and headed on my way to see the rest of the festival. I didn't want to overstay my welcome and it was still a bit awkward for me. You gotta remember I don't get out much so these social engagements are tough. Like as we (the group not just the girl and I) were talking, people we know came up and said hello. So there could be periods of time when I was just standing there munching on your corn while the others would talk with their friends. And it worked both ways. There were times when I saw some of the group members just standing there awkwardly while I was talking to others. Remember I don't do well with the awkward silences (See Water). But in the end I met some new people, got to talk to that girl, and had corn which was surprisingly tasty. It was also nice to be talking to people my own age for once. That's half the battle in this town. Most everyone seems to either be older or younger.

WAM I hope you're happy. I missed Monk but it didn't turn out too bad. In my defense though tonight's episode looked like a great one.