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Destidude
Snowy Owl
Snowy Owl

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Joined: 15 Oct 2012
Age: 51
Gender: Male
Posts: 140

19 Nov 2012, 11:35 am

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was a night of fun, it was a day of awkwardness, it was hours of drunkeness, it was hours of sobriety, it was moments of chatter, it was moments of silence, it was an interval of conjoinment, it was an interval of detachment, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to inebriation, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the contrast between two different parties I recently attended could not be starker.

Last week I went to a work party populated by about twenty coworkers. The people at the party, most of whom I've met before, are at best acquaintences; I don't have friends at work. In the typical dry and boring fashion of this area of the corporation, there were no booze, just food and pop. Even though I feel socially crippled by AS, I still try which is more than I can say about most (NTs oddly enough). Despite efforts on my part and a couple others, greetings were icy and unwelcoming, cliques remained intact, subjects gravitated towards work (fun!) and conversation was stilted, complete with frequent long, awkward pauses.

On the weekend, I attended another work party. This time it was for about twenty of my wife's colleagues. In that party, there were booze, and plenty of it. While I have met a few of these people before, most were complete strangers to me. Nevertheless, once a sufficient dosage of alcohol had be consumed by myself and others, inhibitions dissolved, the party took on a festive tone and communication came naturally. While work came up on occassion, subjects ranged from travel to music, from art to politics, and from food to games. I can't say whether having a buzz reduces my AS symptoms, blinds me to them or whether it blinds others to mine but, without a doubt, I feel that I'm much better at being social after several drinks. But then I have to also admit, inhabitants of this second party may just have been better company.

Does any else experience this sort of thing?