Social Moth

Friends who know me well at this stage of my life are sure I'm guilty of hyperbole when I say that, in high school, I could literally go an entire day without letting one word escape my mouth. I mean, not one word. But I assure them that this is fact, not exaggeration. I was really that shy, at least during my first two years of high school. Painfully shy.

Thankfully, I've since come out of my shell (or, shall I say, cocoon?). Now, I am quite comfortable in a crowd, with small talk, deep conversation, humor, even a little harmless flirting among friends. In fact, I've come to greatly enjoy socializing with friends, strangers, whomever! Still an introvert at heart -- I get my "charge" from quiet time at home, not from a big crowd of people -- I look forward to evenings out, mingling and laughing with others.

But I wouldn't quite describe myself as a social butterfly. Maybe a social moth is more apropos. I mean, I can fly through the room and do all the things a butterfly can do, but perhaps with less beauty and finesse.

Last night, we hosted our second annual company holiday party.

(OK, digression here... It's hard for me to write, think, or say "holiday party." I'm Catholic, and to me, it's a "Christmas party." But we need to be politically correct. And you've heard the soapbox arguments before on the whole "holiday" vs "Christmas" thing. So just insert that little rant here. Back to the story...)

We hosted the holiday party. Last year, we had the party at an upscale restaurant. We all dressed up, ate expensive steak meals, had great conversation around one big table. Of course, there were only about six employees and their spouses who attended, conducive to that type of intimate event.

This year, we have fifteen full-time employees, all of whom attended. Most with spouses. So the party was bigger. We chose to hold the party in a more casual restaurant, in a private room with multiple tables, a buffet, ping-pong and pool tables, and less structure -- more conducive to games and free mingling. Oh, and an open bar.

It was a great evening! My husband is more the butterfly than I am, so he flitted from group to group easily. I made it to just about everyone, but I do prefer longer conversations over the small-talk quick hits, so it took me longer to make my way through the crowd. Sometimes I like to people-watch, so I took a few short "social breaks" throughout the night to just watch others interacting.

Watching others socialize is really fascinating to me. Especially when there's an open bar. After a few drinks, some of the more introverted, socially cautious people open up a bit or a lot, allowing a glimpse into their true personalities. Couples tell their stories about each other with a wink and a nudge -- that harmless, teasing, back-and-forth that makes for great entertainment. After a few drinks, the extroverted among us become even more so -- wowwing others with their social flexibility, living large, creating "events" throughout the night. After a few drinks, people who were mere coworkers become BFFs, sharing secrets, planning future social events to enjoy together. After a few drinks, a company party becomes, simply and happily, a party of friends.

Finally, I looked at the time. By 12:30, the party that was to end at 11:00 was still going strong, at least among the last dozen to linger. Alas, we missed curfew -- we called the babysitter to say we're so sorry, but we're not going to be home by 12:00 as we'd thought. How about if we shoot for 1:00?