As I've mentioned in one of my posts, I'm a shy and anti-social person. It's just my nature. I try my best to avoid social situations because most of the time I end up feeling uncomfortable and more depressed at the fact that I'm such an awkward little duckling.
Yet, some of my friends still manage to convince (or manipulate) me into stepping out of my comfort zone. Case in point; getting dragged out to a bar by Christy*.
I've met Christy back when I was in middle school. She's quite a unique person, I've got to give her that. For as long as I've known her, she's had this weird kind of tomboy thing going on. She could play cricket just as good as the guys, so much so that she actually had a spot in their team. Christy was never afraid of confrontation, which is why she was often involved in a lot of fights. Luckily, she seemed to calm down once we hit high school. She still has that spicy temper of hers, but I can see that she's starting to apply it in a way that is both healthy and beneficial to her life.
As I was saying, Christy wanted me to meet her at her sister's apartment to discuss our plans for the night. I was adament about not going into town since its the end of the month and that the bars would be flooded with people, but before I knew it, my butt was already planted on a bar stool.
We went to the local golf club. It has a relatively decent bar and restaurant, but I didn't trust the parking lot that much since our family's car almost got stolen there a few months ago. I kept an eye on my car like a hawk throughout the entire night and even resorted to locking the steering wheel with one of those giant steel steering wheel locks. I know that's such a granny thing to do, but it's ridiculously easy to break into my car.
Anyways, me and Christy met up with an old friend from highschool and ordered some drinks. Since I was the designated driver, I thought I'd get away with drinking cola without anyone noticing. Yet again, Christy somehow convinced me to drink a single shot of brandy and cola between every glass of plain cola. I can't hold my liquor all that well, so I paid extra attention to how I felt after each drink. Luckily, it helped to dilute the alcohol with a buttload of cola, but man… I felt extremely bloated afterwards. And over-caffeinated.
At one point, one of Christy's old crushes, Sam*, approached us along with one of his friends. While Christy was busy chatting up Sam, Sam's friend, Dwayne* tried doing the same with me. It was clear to me that he was drunk, not only because of the fact that his speech was slurry but also because he knocked his drink over. Right onto my freshly washed pair of Converse sneakers. I was a little mad about that but I'm not the kind of person that shows my anger that easily.
Soon we left the golf club and made our way over to another bar to play a game of pool. Christy and Sam couldn't stop ogling each other like a couple of lovesick puppies.
After a few rounds of pool we decided to go and pay our tab before leaving. Unfortunately, I caught a glimpse of Sam sucking the air out of Christy's lungs. I found it a little disturbing that two people can go from zero to sixty that quick, but calmly reminded myself that it's not that disturbing considering today's hookup culture.
But I'll be damned if Dwayne tried something like that with me.
After we paid our tab and said our goodbyes I nearly had to drag Christy away from Sam's lips before hitting the road back home. Christy decided to sleep over at my house since it was too late to go back to her sister's apartment. I felt a little worn out from everything so I probably looked something like this while driving:
We made it home safely, and while Christy instantly fell asleep in front of the tv, I had time time to contemplate the night's events since I had way too much caffeine in my system to fall asleep...
While thinking about everything that happened, I couldn't help but feel like an awkward little duckling thrown into the deep-end. Most people would initiate conversations with each other where I'd much rather mind my own business and savour my drink. While most people would get up and dance to some party music I'd rather wander around outside and marvel at the stars. I also noticed that the default thing to do when you look like you're alone is to pluck out your phone and look busy.
While I do think that it is important to step out of your comfort zone from time to time, I think it's a different story when you feel extremely uncomfortable in such situations.
How well do you cope in social situations? Are you an awkward little duckling like me that can drown easily in deep water or are you a swimming socialite? Let me know in the comments down below.
* - Names have been changed
Source(s):
Main image: Pixabay
Sleepy Boo GIF: GIPHY