What to do when you meet new people

I am the furthest thing from a social butterfly, a social worm if you may (since caterpillars eventually turn into butterflies). I despise small talk and therefore rarely enjoy getting to know new people. However, this process is important in every day life and can lead the formation of new and lasting friendships and if for no other reason, when forced to go to public outings with friends, you can only pretend to be a mute for so long before your friends will refuse to take you out. Therefore, I have found some fun ways to pass the time in superficial social settings.



Meeting people is always a fun time to reinvent yourself, since people probe you over and over again with the same predictable questions...



'What are you?' -for those of us who do not have our race stamped on our forehead (i.e. not white or black), this questions is the most common and usually is asked even before your name. Some fun answers include 'Human I think' or 'I am not sure, I was adopted'



'What is your name?' - leaves the most flexibility, so be creative - use colours, movie characters, sounds



'What do you do?' - aah, the question to put you in a box, to judge your mental abilities, your social ranking. This is a fun one to experiment with to see how much respect you get after your answer.



'Why are you still single?' What a question! Usually this is more of a statement intended as a compliment, or perhaps a ploy to determine your fault that would make you a bad choice for a relationship. Some good answers are ' I just got out of jail', 'It is hard to find someone who will put up with the kids'



Getting to know people takes energy, and I admire people who put in the work to get to know others. But I also think it is equally important to know fewer people, but know them well and be there for them as much as you can. This is sometimes harder to do if you are constantly going around asking people annoying questions!!