Name Your Pleasure

It can be a scary thing when you go to some event where you know few people. The other day that happened. I had the vague idea that this picnic I went to in the park might involve just four or five people, all of whom I had met or knew relatively well. It turned out to be much bigger than that, eventually encompassing several times more than the number I anticipated. I know only those who I had been expecting, and the rest were new to me. It was a little intimidating, as such things are.

I managed to muddle along all right, I think. There were those moments where you pretend that you are busy with your phone, and there were times when I engrossed myself in the food, which is easily taken and eaten, as opposed to the frequently elusive conversation. Mostly though, I found myself talking, and a healthy amount of it was with new people. I don't know that any life achievements happen at a picnic, but I at least showed my social side better than usual.

Thinking about it, I see the positive side of such a gathering. There certainly is the bewildering barrage of new names that I invariable fail to keep track up, but the good news is that this is the first time I'm meeting these people. I will have no cause to feel bad until the next time I meet them, when they remember my name and I have let theirs slip my mind. Many I will probably not see again, or it will be so long that we will each have forgotten the other's name (and I am therefore off the hook).

Perhaps I can break the cycle. I do seem to recall one or two new names, and through the grace of God maybe those will be the people who crop up again in my life. If that happens, I can build momentum by doing it again and again, ultimately becoming some kind of Dale Carnegie who miraculously remembers everyone's name and some critical details about them. That would be a welcome development for me, you may be sure.