Pot Lucks

Recently I went to a pot luck full of single people. It was yet another eye opening experience. The food was good. I think only a couple people brought store bought cookies. I was impressed. There were find out questions on the paper covered tables, to help spark conversations and crayons scattered around in case the conversations lull.

While our conversations freely flowed, we grabbed a few of the questions out just to see what we could’ve been talking about. One was “What are you wearing that best represents you?” The best thing I could come up with was my plastic bracelets. The rest of my clothes actually almost looked grown up. My roommate was lucky though, she was wearing a tshirt with a skeleton kid on it saying “Nobody wants to play with me”

Another question was “If you were on a long flight, who would you want to sit next to on the plane?” I stated that I didn’t want anyone to sit by me. I’d rather have the elbow room. I hate being squished on a plane. A friend across the table kept saying “The plane is full, you have to sit by someone!” but since that wasn’t stated on the paper, I stuck with my initial answer.

The two guys next to us were characters. Every time I would say something, one of them would just stare at me as if he was checking off something in his head. Finally, I asked him what he was doing and he told me he was profiling me. Some profile. I’m sure it was incredibly shallow. Who’s going to discuss deep things like the state of the union my personal feelings on child development while eating meatballs and fruit salad?

At the end, I started rolling up the paper tablecloths to help clean up. As I neared the end of the table, I got close to a guy drinking a soda (let’s call him Eddie) who was just watching the cleanup and a girl who was folding chairs. I had to stop a couple feet away from Eddie because there were some bottles of water on the table. With my arms full, I looked up at Eddie and said “Hey, can we throw these bottles away?”

He looked at me, shrugged, and said “I don’t care, they’re not my drinks. You can do whatever you want.”

The girl with the chairs looked up at him and said “She was asking for help.”

It was at that point that I realized yet again how different men and women are. It’s funny how one can have a reoccurring realization, as if it doesn’t stick the first two thousand times. I smiled as Eddie took the bottles and threw them away then continued sipping his soda while we finished clearing the table.

I keep hearing that we have to be very direct with men. Eddie was a testament to that. Ladies, if you want a man to throw water bottles away, just tell him. He’ll do it. He just needs exact direction, not hints.