When facing situations that I’ll wimp out and walk away in cowardice, suddenly I think “What would Chris do?”<\/p>\n
Then I would pretend to be Chris and walk in, acting if I was him. Sometimes, it would go well\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwith it eventually morphing into my comfort zone. Other times, it would be awkward and I would freeze, then limp away in embarrassment.<\/p>\n
I have had always trouble talking to strangers without a clear intent or purpose\u00e2\u20ac\u201dor something normal. The act of small talk does not come naturally. See talk to famous people<\/a>. See calling banks to reduce my rate or waive fees. See making small talk with a girl who has a bag that I really want. See talking to salespeople in stores, especially those where I don’t want to be treated like a novice.<\/p>\n Today, I went up to the bike valet without a bike. Without knowing whether I will actually bike. I wanted to know how the entire experience would be like In my usual social anxious way, I scoped out the place. I studied the outdoor<\/i> walls and the people coming in and out the building. I looked around at the bikers congregating perhaps for a ride together. I loitered near the entrance door. Then at some point, I thought that was good enough and spun on my heel, headed to the MUNI.<\/p>\n But wait. Chris would not do that!<\/p>\n So I awkwardly…then with confidence, I strolled into the building and talked to the guy at the counter: “So how does this work?”<\/p>\n I got the same answer as the website and on yelp, but in some way, perhaps it was what I was seeking for. Then I got stuck on the MUNI for 30 minutes when it broke down. Inside, I started steaming about how public transit (specifically the light rail) is horrible and annoying and stupid and not well-planned…and how I really need to learn how to bike.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When facing situations that I’ll wimp out and walk away in cowardice, suddenly I think “What would Chris do?” Then I would pretend to be Chris and walk in, acting if I was him. Sometimes, it would go well\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwith it … Continue reading