Shy versus "stuck up" ?

[dballance]

6. No worries. I'm a fat, old white guy now.

I was pretty muscular back in the day. I wouldn't shy away from a tank-top or sleeveless shirt so I could show off my well-developed arms. LOL. What we do to preen ourselves and attract others is rather comical upon reflection.

In retrospect, I appreciate the guy telling me to not be so "stuck up." It alerted me to the fact I was portraying an image that was not at all me. My conundrum was "How do I change that perception?"

What I did to change was I started trying to engage in conversations with people at the bars rather than "stand and model" as we call it. That would be just standing at the bar, alone, surveying the crowd.

It was damned hard for an introvert like me to do that. The plus side is I met a lot of really interesting people.