how do you respond in social interractions?

I've always had an easier time talking to complete strangers than people I know. When the strangers stops being strangers to me I protect my self in various strange ways. That's why also my relationships have been with the "pushy" personalities.

"As soon as I sense someone may be wanting to take the relationship a step further this wall comes up. ( as in exchanging phone numbers)"

Is this because you don't want to hurt them and say "I don't want this kind of relationship with you".. ? You're afraid they want more out of it than you do? Which means you'll probably hurt their feelings..

Only you know, or do you? The mind is a complicated matter. The confusion.. DAMN confusion.

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I find it hard to approach people and start talking to them. Even if I'm just in the supermarket and I don't know where something is, I have to go near an employee and stand there looking around with a confused expression on my face until they ask me if I need help, because it's too hard to initiate dialogue for me. I used to know this guy who would have no problem walking up to the hottest girl in the room and saying things like, "Hey, you're pretty sexy.. Wanna hang out later?" And I have no desire to be a "pimp," as he called himself, but I just don't know how he could bring himself to do that.

I wouldn't really want to approach the same sex for friendship, because that would be putting myself through a lot of stress and anxiety that just isn't worth it because I always feel like I don't like them and want nothing to do with them anyway. Maybe it's a subconscious thing; convincing myself that I don't want to be friends with them so I'll have an excuse not to make conversation?

I seem to be better at socially interacting with girls (in a friendship context) I think it's because guys generally feel more pressure to be "cool," so they're more likely to tease or harass people who are just minding their own business (like I do.) I'm not saying girls don't make fun of each other; I work with all women and hear their conversations and some of the stuff they say about other people is straight up cruel But I usually find girls to be more supportive and easier to talk to about emotional stuff and feelings without fear of being labeled a "#######1." [/u]

Aww, man, working in an all-girl environment... *shiver* If you are a woman, that is! A very catty, cruel sex we can be... for some reason I never thought men were like that. Maybe they are- I sure don't spend enough time around them

For me, I don't know how to make eye contact. When someone's talking to me or I'm talking to them, I don't know where I should be looking. Right back in their eyes the whole time? But maybe that's too direct and creepy for them... should I look off somewhere else? But then I seem like I'm bored... On and off, in their eyes, at their face, look around, back at the eyes... This doesn't happen with friends, with them I just talk. Everyone else I try and "play normal." Same with walking down the halls- when you see someone you know at work (well, you know all of them, basically, and you see them 20 times a day) what are you supposed to do when you see them? Where are your eyes supposed to go THEN? Are you supposed to say something, if so, what? "Hi" gets pretty old after the first encounter I just kind of look away at the floor OR I look right back at them, real directly, and they give me a look that says, "WTF do you want from me?" Then I look at the floor. Happy mediums elude me.

LittleFish wrote:Aww, man, working in an all-girl environment... *shiver* If you are a woman, that is! A very catty, cruel sex we can be... for some reason I never thought men were like that. Maybe they are- I sure don't spend enough time around them

I've seen the way men interact with each other on the other lines that only have men on them, and they seem to just joke around a lot. Whereas my line is apparently the worst line in the whole plant to work on, from what I've heard. The women I work with are knows as the "pedal bitches." It's kinda funny because my first week there, some guy asked me, "You're new here... What line do you work on?" And I said, "I work with the pedal bitches." And he actually knew that I worked on the XH Pedal Assembly line.

PS: Does this forum have some kind of built-in censorship thing? Because on my previous post up there, I mentioned that if men talk about their emotions, they are usually called a derogatory term for homosexuals that's spelled F, then A, then G. And somehow the word got turned into "#######1." And on another thread about music, I typed in "#######1" as one of the bands I like, and it did that again. Oh well. It's probably for the best.

EDIT: I guess it "bleeps" it out if it even has the F followed by A followed by G sequence in the name. That band is called S.a.r.c.o.f.a.g.o, except without periods.