Day 4
Today was my first day at work as a social skydiver. Unfortunately my boss loaded tons of work on me, so I wasn't able to go to the gym, or explore the building for strangers like I had intended. Instead I made the most of my situation and worked on quality. Which meant engage some of the people I see everyday in the halls but only greet them with a friendly hello.
I have to admit approaches around the office are soooooooo much easier because, I believe, it's “socially acceptable” to make conversion with someone you work with. No one is going to tell me to “Fuck off” or anything of the like. Now you may be asking yourself why I didn't postpone my endeavor until after work? The reason is I needed to practice for a speech I had to deliver the next day. You see I'm a member of Toastmasters International, which is an organization designed for people who want to practice their public speaking. Anywho even though I didn't engage a stranger I'm still pushing myself socially and taking initiative engaging people.
Day 5
My speech went off without a hitch! In case you're wondering it was about developing healthy sleep habits. As for social skydiving throughout the day I missed a couple of good opportunities to talk to strangers around the building. For example, one of my fellow Toastmasters was talking about her weekend canoe ride along the Charles River. This is something I’m dying to do but haven’t yet pursued, so using my newfound underlying curiosity strategy to combat fear I decided I would ask her about it. I didn’t work this time, I found myself waiting for the right moment which never came. I’ll have to work on this! There is no such thing as the right moment.
In the end I found someone, on my way out of the office, talk about cutting it close. There was a girl following me out of the building into the parking lot. I thought to myself, "hmmmm, I've never seen her before.". Which is exactly what I said to her,
"Really? I've been here for three years."
"Oh, they keep us pretty compartmentalized in finance."
"Same with database."
The conversation ended there. It was pretty awkward, and I thought about continuing until I realized it was important to let the awkward silence remain. I wanted to know what it felt like, to relish in it. Sitting down in the driver seat of my vehicle I couldn’t have been giddier. Pushing though my internal walls and attempting to initiate a conversation with this girl was overwhelmingly satisfying compared to the feeling of chickening out earlier in the day at Toastmasters. In the end nothing happened, the conversation didn’t go anywhere. It was awkward, but it’s not difficult to deal with.
Day 6
Not too much to report today, I got a haircut after work and engaged my hairdresser. Tomorrow my friend from work, Ahbi (pronounced Abby) and I have plans to tip back a couple of drinks. This will be a perfect test of my progress so far.
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