Daily Archives: December 17, 2009

Easily Distracted

Situation #1: I brought my friend Richard to my rafting trip. There were about 40 people there, and the only person he knew was me. When we went rafting, I started out on his boat, promptly got drunk, and hopped into another raft at the first opportunity. The whole trip turned out great, but I had left him on his own for a while.

Situation #2: One of my close friends was invited to the 90s party I was hosting. She brought along a few of her friends. I was distracted for some reason and never ended up introducing them to anyone. And Sarah was on Skype so it was a long while before I mingled with them. I left them on their own in a situation where they didn’t know anyone.

Situation #3: I invited a few people I had just met to a Halloween party. When one girl shows up, I say hello and then return to my beer pong game. Once again, I don’t take the time to make sure someone is comfortable and acclimated.

I guess this means that if you just met me, and I have invited you to some event, do not expect me to hold your hand. You’ll be in a situation where you may not know anyone, and it will be your responsibility to make yourself feel comfortable. I will get distracted by other people and leave you alone for long amounts of time.

Situation #4: I met a lot of people in college. I remember one time walking with a few people, and then seeing some people I had just met. I wanted to say hello to them, so I told the original people to wait for a few moments while I said hello. I ended up starting up a conversation and forgetting about the original people for a long time.

In fact, I did this quite often. I would stop people walking by, engage them in conversation, and just ditch who I was previously talking to. I was very easily distracted by new conversation. I would never leave to just say hi; I was always gone for a relatively long period of time.

I’m not sure if there’s any overall point to what I’m writing. I guess I can conclude that my personality is the kind that is easily enticed by new people.

I’ve also wondered if people ever thought I was fake. I can be fairly promiscuous with the word friend when I just meet people. In my first year at college, I also had a lot of acquaintances — very shallow relationships with people. And like I said, I’d ditch them easily. I can’t help but wonder if anyone thought I was feigning friendship.

… Nah, everyone loves me.