9:19 p.m. - 11 March 2003
S is for Solitude
S is for solitude
Lee went to go visit a friend of his in his hometown last weekend. This left me at home by myself: something I needed to recharge my batteries. I am an introvert through and through, and every now and then I just need some time alone to get myself together.
This would be one of the reasons I occasionally take a mental health day: it’s not just that I need the time away from work; I need the time to myself and not talk to anyone. There are days that I think I could happily live in a cave, as long as it had internet access, a really nice stove, and access to good ingredients.
I think it’s one of the reasons I’m so excited about my new job (and my new boss told me today that I should be hearing something official from HR as soon as the employment manager gets back tomorrow): the door. I can close the door and be insulated from the crush of humanity that might otherwise parade through my door. I also think it’s one of the reasons I dislike my current job so much: I’m forced to be an extrovert all day.
Between being cheerful when I answer the phone (and I don’t even want to talk about the required telephone etiquette class I have to go to on Friday) and greeting every damn person who comes into the office, by the time I get home I barely want to talk to Lee, much less anyone else. Not always very good for our marriage, but somewhat necessary to keep my sanity.
This isn’t to say, though, that I’m incapable of being sociable. My friends from Converse could happily tell you that sometimes I don’t shut up. I certainly sometimes have the phone bill to prove it, too. But I take a long time to warm up to people (in the case of my in-laws, it’s been six years and I still don’t feel completely comfortable around them), which sometimes gets interpreted as being stuck-up. Which isn’t the case, but there isn’t much I can do about it. Except stay in my hidey-hole and be happy.
This has been an entry for AlphaBytes. I’m working my way through the alphabet backwards just because I can.
