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jaunthieI have been told on multiple occasions that I frequently intimidate people without meaning to. I've never truly internalized this for a number of reasons (who the hell would be intimidated by me?), one of which being that I have ample evidence of the fact that I am Approachable. Put me on a random street in a random city or town somewhere amongst crowds of other people, and I will be one of those that other people ask directions of. Find me in a long grocery check-out line, and I'm probably the one the clerk will be chatting with. Spot me at one of my semi-regular haunts, and while I might not remember the other regulars' names perfectly, I'll recognize and know something about all of them, as they will me. Some of this is undoubtedly learned social conditioning, as my mother is Grand High Master of casual friendly socialization in public encounters, and I must have absorbed at least a little something through osmosis. But I've grown more and more convinced over the years that some of it must be related to some affect or demeanor or psychic button that certain other people can read, one that says "Why yes, you can talk to me."
Case in point: this morning, just after I got to work, I was waylaid by a co-worker that I know only very casually (we don't work in the same group, just in the same building). This person not only needed to talk, but was specifically on the lookout *for me*, knowing I came into the office at about that time. Not that I had any knowledge of the situation that this person needed to get off of their chest. I don't know; maybe the fact that I am just a casual acquaintance and didn't know any of the other people/events involved made me a better candidate for unburdening to. (Sometimes it can be easier to talk to strangers.) I was certainly willing to listen and to give what feedback I could, and I did. But the whole encounter left me scratching my head a little, particularly when I recalled that I've been getting the whole random-stranger-comes-up-to-a-crowd-and-picks-me-to-ask-for-help action a lot this week, too. Did I somehow throw that psychic switch - and if so, what switch is it?
On the plus side, I apparently made someone's day better just by walking in the door, which isn't a bad way to start the morning.
Case in point: this morning, just after I got to work, I was waylaid by a co-worker that I know only very casually (we don't work in the same group, just in the same building). This person not only needed to talk, but was specifically on the lookout *for me*, knowing I came into the office at about that time. Not that I had any knowledge of the situation that this person needed to get off of their chest. I don't know; maybe the fact that I am just a casual acquaintance and didn't know any of the other people/events involved made me a better candidate for unburdening to. (Sometimes it can be easier to talk to strangers.) I was certainly willing to listen and to give what feedback I could, and I did. But the whole encounter left me scratching my head a little, particularly when I recalled that I've been getting the whole random-stranger-comes-up-to-a-crowd-and-picks-me-to-ask-for-help action a lot this week, too. Did I somehow throw that psychic switch - and if so, what switch is it?
On the plus side, I apparently made someone's day better just by walking in the door, which isn't a bad way to start the morning.
