I’ve managed to overcome a good deal of the shyness that was a huge part of my younger self’s existence. I used to be terrified when family came to visit our home – I thought Uncle Tom was particularly scary! Well, he is about 6 feet tall, isn’t a tiny guy and worked as a police officer in Flint for 30 some-odd years – and has quite a loud, forceful voice. Whenever he came over, I would find my favorite corner in the dining room. It was all fine and good until someone found my “hiding spot” and took my photo (those bastards)!

Dammit, they found me! A scene from 1975, probably Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner, judging from the “extra” chairs. I think some trickery must’ve been involved to have coaxed a smile out of me! Maybe someone made a fart noise or something! That still makes me smile today!

I’m no longer afraid of Uncle Tom (though he IS still a bit intimidating). One of the most recent times I saw him was at a funeral in 2011, when he absolutely INSISTED I get into his turquoise Chevy Bel-Air with him. He was on a mission – he wanted to prove that there was enough leg room in it for me to be comfortable! He was right…enough leg room for me is a pretty impressive feature for an older car!

This is not my Uncle Tom’s Bel-Air, but it is similar. I wish GM would bring back this car model and use the original Bel-Air colors – and make it a cute, compact number that could compete with the Mini Cooper (you may say that I’m a dreamer…but I’m not the only one).

I’ve gotten over a lot of my shyness!  I will sing in a karaoke bar while sober. I have worked as a substitute teacher. I worked as a journalist for about 10 years, which required me to have to talk to strangers pretty much…all of the time! Though I would get to know my regular “sources,” I would still have to approach plenty of people I’d never met. And I wasn’t even as nervous as that one time in high school when I went up to a boy I liked and I asked him (sorry, I can’t finish this sentence it’s too painful)! I have to keep SOME secrets! Long story short he said “no” and I was heartbroken (but I got over it).

Everything I’ve accomplished over the years in overcoming my shyness flew out the window today. Except there were no windows in the conference room at work. Me and my “teammates” at work had to meet with the new “operations manager,” whom is a woman named Gretchen. And we ALL had to introduce ourselves, describe our day-to-day duties and say how long we’d been with the company. I was horrified! I absolutely HATE this kind of stuff! They tried to ply us with Tim Horton’s doughnuts, but I declined (that 5,000-calorie dessert I had on Sweetest Day was enough sweets to satisfy any sweets cravings I might have for the remainder of the year)! Pro tip – if you REALLY want to get me to talk? Give me a couple of drinks first! Doughnuts and sweet goodies aren’t going to get me to talk! 

If only I could go to a job interview after having a couple of these (sigh)! This is how to REALLY get me to talk!  Me at a friend’s campfire in 2015

 

Finally I was on the “mic.” Kidding – there was no mic (I’m being figurative). I said was I was supposed to, yada yada – prefacing it all with “I’m a much better writer than I am a talker.” I said though I prefer working “behind the scenes,” I also don’t mind working on the sales floor and helping customers when it’s busy (if anyone tries to put me on register detail again I will seek out that corner in the dining room of my childhood home and hide there, LOL)! I have to have SOME lines drawn in the sand! I already did my “tour of duty” on the register (and still have the PTSD to prove it)! I can do a thousand-yard stare with one eye tied behind my back 🙂

Yes, I still get nervous in certain situations. I can take a mic and sing Black Velvet by Alannah Myles on karaoke night without batting an eye. I can approach a police officer on duty at a public event and ask him to give an estimate on how many people are in attendance – or grill a police officer about the gory details of a crime scene, car accident, etc.  I’m not shy about approaching sales clerks in stores (which I had to do later this morning). But I am stricken with abject fear when I have to… (the horror) talk about myself to others (especially people I barely know).  There are at least 100 things I would have rather have done this morning than (gasp) talk about my job!

Just to top off my unpleasant experience at work…I went to Walgreen’s to buy some more lip balm, and THEY WERE OUT OF MY FAVORITE LIP BALM! Did you know if you can’t find something at Walgreen’s, you can order it online and pick it up free in-store? Yup, that’s what I did! I ordered five tubes of the stuff and will be able to pick it up in about three days. For inquiring minds, it’s called Coco Care cocoa butter lip balm. It’s the best stuff I’ve ever used. Long-lasting moisture, no obnoxious scent…I’d highly recommend it! And most importantly… it’s CHEAP! The five tubes I ordered today came to $6.84.

Take that, bad day at work! I may not be able to overcome ALL of my shyness, but I WILL be the conqueror of chapped lips, gosh darn it!