The Company Party

Last night Favorite Husband and I went to his new company's Christmas party. Actually, it was more like a dinner, because after dinner they gave out the awards, and then everybody went home. Now that's my kind of party! I don't like parties. I like meeting other people, but I don't like talking to them in groups. I'm not sure what I'm afraid of-- I'm so over all my junior high rejection issues now-- but it just makes me uncomfortable. I think maybe it's the lack of authority structure; I don't know where I stand. I can get up in front of a class of 40 students and lecture just fine, because everyone knows and respects the fact that I'm the teacher and they're the students; but put me in a room with 10 of my peers and I'm totally out of my element. I have to work really hard at being gregarious, and I think it shows. Even if it doesn't, it still wears me out.

I wore one of the ponchos I have up for sale on my website, to show it off. I showed my friend (the one whose husband recommended F.H. for the job) and I met another lady who was also wearing a wrap, who wanted to check out my website because she is a great fan of fashionable wraps.

I did not, however, mention exactly what it is I do for a living. One of the reasons I quit going to parties is because that was always a conversation-stopper. Someone polite inevitably asks you what you do for a living. As soon as you mention you teach math or have a degree in math (let alone a Master's degree) the conversation always takes one of two turns. Either the person you're talking to goes off on how she has always hated math, had bad math teachers, etc., or else she says "Gee, that's really nice, you must be smart, excuse me," and heads over to the punch bowl. This time, when asked the inevitable question, for the first time in my life I didn't have to mention math. I merely said I run a home-based microbusiness, and nobody pushed it. F.H., however, did mention that I'd been a substitute teacher, but I think he caught onto the fact that I didn't want to mention math at the dinner table, and thankfully the conversation got steered away from the topic.