business trip awkwardness

i've been traveling with my director on the project and i have had some very awkward moments. first, i'm currently making cold calls for my project to try to set up interviews. now, making cold calls is not my favorite thing to do. and you kinda have to be fake and say stupid things to get people to talk to you. i prefer to make calls when no one else is listening to me, but while we work in pittsburgh, we sit right next to each other and he listens to every word i say. it makes me feel so self-conscious. second, he isn't the best at making small talk. he's very bad at making small talk actually. i try to ask questions, find out what's going on with his other projects, talk about the holiday, and lots of other things...but he never talks about anything for more than two seconds. so at lunch i was talking about how i'm going to the army/navy game in philly this weekend. he asked what my brother was doing after he graduates and i said that he was going to flight school. and then he remarked, "yeah...and then they send him to iraq." i didn't really know what to reply to that. so then he asked me if my brother was going to do it for life. and i said that i knew he was thinking about it. then i mentioned how the retirement benefits are really good. and my director replied, "if you don't die." is it just me or are those remarks completely off base? i mean, what the heck am i supposed to say to that? it's clearly not funny...such awkwardness.

pjs

posted for sarah:
umm awwwkward situation at school today.one of my tss workers apparently makes pjs on the side (?). he said they'dmake great christmas gifts. he asked if i'd be interested and i feignedinterest thinking, whatever, i'll buy plaid pajama pants for $10.welllll ... he brought in samples today. or rather, one set of sample. thematerial is tan and there is a silkscreened very large scooby doo on thefront of the spaghetti strap tank top with glitter spray paint around it ...then the next item - the undies - came out. also tan, scooby, and glittery.there i am, standing in my classroom, holding a pair of ladies panties (ewhate that word) and a tank top, desperately searching for the right words.later, another tss workers said to me, so, ms. matthews, you're not toointerested in those pajamas? ... (is he joking? is he serious? does *he*like the pajamas?) ... "well, i haven't really thought about christmas giftsat all yet ..."oh geez.

The NEW Cha Cha

So I decided a great way to meet people and do something I've wanted to learn for a while is to join a dance class. I wasn't really particular about which genre as long as it wasn't lyrical jazz as I explored the options on the internet. To my surprise I found dance lessons that were only a block from my house! Furthermore the lessons were tonight! For free!! Yes, it'd seemed to good to be true. Although dance partners were encouraged, they also boasted that their place was an "unlikely place to meet singles" so I thought it'd be okay going alone...I'm here to meet people right?

As I arrive, I can only see couples and most of them between the age range of 30-60s, which I have nothing against but was hoping to meet some young professionals, like myself. I thought about immediately darting away, but decided to give it a worthy try. We started out just going over the dance steps, but then the time came to pick our dance partner. As everyone else had brought their designated date, who was the lucky one to go in front of the class to dance with the instructor? Oh yes, my friend. It was I. We switched partners a couple of times after that, so I didn't have to be the example for the whole time. After learning the cha-cha by dancing with some nice older men and women (the women outranked the guys 3:1) it was time to "party" where they opened the dance floor up for everyone to dance salsa, meringue, ballroom, swing, you name it. I opted out...I usually only try to stand awkwardly alone in a mid-life party once a night. Back to the drawing boards of how to meet young professionals....