Par Tease Zone

Yesterday evening I was at a the birthday party of a friend. It was a good time. There was food, there were friends, there were games and there was a movie. It was a useful way to finish the day after one or two anxious experiences. Of course, the party itself is an anxious experience for me, and while it's more rewarding than going home and watching movies alone, it's also more fraught with peril. My attempts to evade that peril were a mixed bag.

I had bought hot dogs and buns earlier that day, meaning to eat them myself. It occurred to me at some point that I should bring something to the party, and it occurred to me that the hot dogs might fit the bill (more so than liquor, which I find is often oversupplied. Food and non-alcoholic drinks, meanwhile, are undersupplied often). I knew that the theme was tacos, and that cooking the hot dogs might be problematic, but I figured they'd still work out one way or another.

On arriving with them, I found myself fending off some derision for bringing hot dogs at all, but also for not bringing them cooked and ready to go. I can see fault being found with the original idea, but I don't know how anyone thought I ought to have cooked them up at home and then brought them over. Surely they'd be cold again, and soggy now to boot. I guess that shows what I know. People apparently do it differently than I thought. Saying that, I come off like an alien who just showed up, right? I feel like that a lot.

The hot dog debacle gave way to complaints that I was talking through "The Lego Movie", and I do understand being upset that someone is talking during a movie. That's not OK ever in the theater (unless you are talking very quietly and sparingly, or else are in a vacant theater), and only somewhat more often OK at home. At outdoor birthday parties, I feel it's ok. Others felt differently, and I found myself once again keenly aware of my shortcomings in socializing.

After that, things stabilized. I had some fun, I had one or two OK exchanges with people and I played a tolerable game of Jenga. Add in some welcome professional news and the party was an all around success. I'm glad for that, because the early, choppy phase was not one I wished to remember. As it is, it will loom larger in my memory than it should, but at least the side of me wishing to remember the experience fondly will have a fighting chance.