- Hate isn't attractive. If you are arriving with an agenda to rant about, perhaps you might like to reconsider.
- Ego is boring. Nobody wants to hear about how proud you are of yourself. Seriously, I'm glad that you've supported yourself from the age of 18, without an education, but you're not special.
- Anecdotes are cool, if they're on topic. If not--especially if they take five minutes to relate--they're irritating.
- Being mean to people is NOT cool. When you tell me all about how you shamed a person in front of others, I don't see it as some kind of victory for you.
- Being kind to people IS cool. When you ridicule that, I think less of you.
- Just listen a bit, perhaps?
- And ask people about themselves, rather than ranting about your own life. Is that hard? When you engage them, they'll respond and ask about you. It's a simple formula.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Social Niceties
Tonight we went out to a "Drinking Skeptically" get-together. I didn't learn much about the local skeptics, and I didn't make any friends, but I did come up with a list of things to consider if you're a considering going out to a group meetup of some kind.
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Hope you haven't lost faith in human beings ... ;-)
ReplyDeleteI prefer small parties and I don't do well in a large social event. When I am with a large group of people, I usually just listen and smile. I think it is interesting to observe human behaviour - how some people like to dominate a conversation and how some people present themselves.
Also, your opening gambit should NOT be to insult what everyone else is drinking. Man, was that guy king of the douchebags or what!
ReplyDeleteWell, they do call themselves skeptics. That's a pretty glass-half-empty word right there! I've just been reading about how thinking changes connections in the brain and positive thoughts build positive framework for more positive feelings (dendrites firing and connecting and staying connected etc). Stay away from those people, their frameworks are all for the opposite kind of stuff.
ReplyDeleteAlso, to add to your list: being happy and positive about life doesn't mean you're stupid.
I hear you, dgny. But I can't help being a fellow skeptic... understanding the world in all of its magnificent glory, without pretense or fakery, is enough for me. I don't need ghosts or goblins or gods or chubacabras--this world is enough without fantasy, to me. And it is marvelous. Being skeptical doesn't equate to being negative--just to wanting truth.
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