Thursday night's officers' spouses' thing wasn't too bad. On the good end, I did meet and talk to a few people. I also was "adopted" by another group's spouses (our squadron is a tenant command, so we don't have the "family" dynamic as other squadrons on base do).
On the bad end, the clique rumor I had heard appears to be true. Only a few of the "badges" (existing club members, who wore engraved name badges) spoke more than a couple words to me. I mean, do they really think it would make people feel comfortable to do things like reserve tables for the girls from their squadron, and to hoot and holler when new people are introduced from that squadron? We dregs didn't even get a polite golf clap. I guess I shouldn't blame them, being an intel officer's wife, not a fighter pilot's wife. Bitches.
The one woman I spoke to most I don't see as margarita buddy material. She was really nice, and interesting too, but was a little exhausting. I suppose she was a good example of diarrhea of the mouth. I couldn't even begin to tell you what all I know about her. Like I said, though, she was interesting, and I was surprised when the walk-to-the-car conversation turned standing-in-parking-lot conversation turned into OH MY GOD IT'S 10:30! conversation (the event ended at 9). What with having to get up at 5 to get ready for the Seward trip, this wasn't a pleasant surprise.
Still catching up on sleep this weekend. I'll try to get the pictures from Seward ready and posted soon.
Having a good attitude is so exhausting, isn't it?
The nice thing about the internet is being able to have real friends from around the world. The bad thing about it is we're not around for margaritas or emergency Bug-watching. Oh and the other good thing about it is that we don't have to make excuses when we don't want to go to the party.
It's weird to be a not-very-social person who actually does like connecting to people in a real way in this world.
Posted by: Daphne | 2005.08.21 at 01:29 PM
I'm with Daphne. Real-world social situations, unless with my very close, had them forever friends, freak me out a little.
I just don't usually have anything in common with people.
Posted by: suburban misfit | 2005.08.21 at 03:19 PM
Daphne makes a lot of sense. Although I'm an introvert, I can be a pretty social person, but I have to be in the mood. That is one of the things I love about blogging. You confide, or joke, or opine, or BS whenever the hell you feel like it. And other people only "listen" to you when and if they feel like it. No pressure to be "on" when you're not in the mood.
Posted by: Susie | 2005.08.21 at 04:51 PM
Bitches, man.
Well, there's always next summer. If it's anything like this year, the air conditioning woes of Kalki and Crayonz will create you some new houseguests. My didn't break, it just couldn't keep up.
Looking forward to pictures of the Seward rats.
Posted by: ieatcrayonz | 2005.08.21 at 06:41 PM
Some of the funniest things I've seen have happened when internet people take all this stuff too seriously in real life. I've been to a couple of real life get-togethers and some people take this stuff waaaay too seriously. It's especially funny when people call themselves by their screen names. So, no, I don't call mrtl "mrtl" in real life :-)
Posted by: The Anti-Stalker | 2005.08.21 at 06:46 PM
Memo to wives club 'Members': Yeah, so....highschool was over, um, at least 10 years ago now. Maybe you should get over yourselves? OK then, Thanks.
Wow -- that was snappish, wasn't it? Sorry, it's just my BS threshold has been quite thoroughly met today already. **tucking tail and slinking home to sleep it off**
Posted by: eclectic | 2005.08.21 at 09:19 PM
Heehee, eclectic, that's more or less what I was thinking. Geesh. Cliques are alive and well even past the age of 30.
Posted by: AndreaBT | 2005.08.21 at 09:46 PM
Geez,and I thought high school was clique-y.
Posted by: catherine | 2005.08.21 at 10:15 PM
Daphne - For real! It's relief for the homebodies.
misfit - I'm trying to convince myself that it's not me, but the people in the social opportunities that I have. Which makes me wonder, where should I be going?? lol
Susie - Exactly. When the mood strikes, it's still here.
Yonz - I can only imagine the havoc that a Kalki/yonz/mrtl combo would create. What fun!
T A-S - Here I was thinking you were talking about some of my old AOL buddies. ha! What got me about that community was how it turned petty. "So and so said this in the chatroom [without a smiley, so taken to be the worst possible way to say it]." RUN AWAY! That and when meeting IRL, you know it's time to go home when the conversation turns to the not-so-hysterical antics of your cats.
eclectic - You were totally harsh there. lol Anyway, try 15 years ago. blech!
Andrea - Apparently Anchorage is cliquey in general... the mountain bikers, the cross-country skiers, the climbers of particular mountain ranges. Where does that leave me?
Catherine - I know! Like, I totally thought I was over this so long ago. Now I need some kind of training on how to be cool. (fuck that)
Posted by: mrtl | 2005.08.21 at 11:44 PM
Gosh. I HATE the idiom "diarrhea of the mouth." I DO. It's just so unfair. Plus, she could have been hopped on caffeine or something. You never know! CAFFEINE!
Oh, and "clique-ish biznitches."
That is all.
Posted by: cat | 2005.08.22 at 08:14 AM
Cat - Sorry, girlfriend! I got that from you, but I'll never use it again.
If I remember correctly, she said she doesn't drink coffee. I think she was just desperately in need of adult social interaction (hello - welcome to the boat!). However, if we do get together again, I'll probably need coffee to keep up with her. (Yes, I'd definitely get together with her again.)
Posted by: mrtl | 2005.08.22 at 12:29 PM
Aw, shucks, girl, just go on and use it. It's so terribly... vivid. I'm just scarred, that's all. You know, with the Issues and whatnot.
Posted by: cat | 2005.08.22 at 02:57 PM
Cat - :(
You should totally take your parents on Maury to resolve that.
Posted by: mrtl | 2005.08.22 at 04:30 PM