Sometimes I wonder if I have a tattoo on my forehead that reads, "Tell me your life story, quickly!" I do tend to talk to strangers and always got along with my colleagues, so, I suppose that even us ogres can be "people persons".

There is a tv commercial out right now that has me very intrigued, it's for Kleenex tissues and features a guy on an upholstered sofa in the middle of a busy sidewalk. People come along and talk to him, naturally, they all wind up needing a tissue. If I had a reasonable opportunity, I would love to do that kind of experiment.

To me, it seems like I just have a genuine interest in other people, they must sense it somehow and want to delve into it.

I enjoy people who are interesting and/or funny. They don't have to be beautiful, smart or sane . . . just interesting.

I do not enjoy self-absorbed, egotistical types. They bore me.

So, I am selective, I guess.

Cherie

LMAO (unlike LMOA)

Cyber friends are in a different category but really DM how could someone not like you

I am a people person or, at least, used to be. I don't go out much anymore, but people who come to my home, the Schwanns guy, the mailman, the dog groomer, the lawn guys and verious and sundry repair peeps, never want to leave....they just keep yakking away.. .Maybe they're the people people and not me..LOL.

Anyway, I do like people, but i also enjoy my solitude and privacy, so sometimes I just want to wave my arms and make them all go away...Ya Know? .I am not much of a phone chatter and sometimes don't answer my phone.

My Cyber Friends are like another Family....My Family!!! Every once in a while there's someone who gets your goat, but you accept and love them anyway, because they're Family.

OMG! I know this feeling. LOL. DDs are amazed and horrified at what people tell. Complete strangers too.

I am a people person. Not working outside of the home is hard but I do go and sit at some of the local cafes at least 3 to 4 times a week. It's fun. I hang with the regulars and meet some new people as well.

I too am painfully shy but I make myself go out (see above post). Most the time people just start chatting to me. I don't even have to say too much. I just listen.

OH yeah !!!.

I sometimes wonder though...

picture me... walking around my little bit of cleared land in the jungle... with three cheeping baby geese trailing behind me (patter, patter, patter of little webbed feetsies).

I'm dispensing handfuls of corn and cabbage, and singing 70's songs to my flocks of ducks and chickens....

and tending my guinea pigs and rabbits. ("Hola, pobrecito! Buenos dias!")

and visiting my 'nursery' of ducklings and chicklet-beebies.

and endlessly watching the butterflies and COOL birds that visit.

yesterday's sightings, a beautiful white EGRET, a gorgeous GREEN JAY, a shy brown TOUCAN, and a whole huge flock of noisy parakeets.

also saw a plump agouti, two feisty squirrels, and a gigundous tarantula (Belize Cinnamon) crawling up the porch screen, yikes!

and I'm happier than I've ever been in my LIFE, it's quiet out by the pond, no people, no conversations, no anxiety, no worries that I'll forget my train of thought, or say something babbley-babble-blab.

the last two weeks though... I've had a dozen guests visiting from the US and Canada, and I really enjoyed myself, hanging out and chatting!

here's the question:

was I "secretly" a hermit-type BEFORE I moved abroad?

was THAT what was causing my social anxiety?

and is THAT why I am now so content?

I guess I really AM a people person, but only in short WAVES, with my solitude in long stretches in between.

Oh I would so love to try that experiment! I have always been a people person. My family says that I have not shut up since the day I started talking and I have never met a stranger! I have always been the one who could start a conversation with a fence post. lol But there are times when I can be the complete opposite.

people people, bring them on. except the ones that want my opinion and then criticize my answers. sometimes I just like to be quiet and not bothered.

I attended a training meeting recently. The speaker had us divide up into four car groups. We could pick the one that best described us:

Minivan: puts the needs of others before self; caring and nurturing; needs security and satisfaction; they are the best listeners.

HumV 4X4: just plows life thru no matter what gets in the way; they like to win; poor listeners; high in goal orientation, bottom line people. They like to control; they are "to the point."

Volvo: Slow but sure; like to be precise; like numbers and charts.

Sportscar: friendly and outgoing; like to have fun, but are disorganized. Fun and dynamic; they are volunteers.

Yep, I was the sportscar. Interestingly, there were fewer of us than the other groups, which were evenly divided. I asked the facilitator about that, and he said that was what usually happened.