Ice Cream Antisocial

Once again, this weekend I found myself at another gathering that revolved around food, the first of two this week. I won't go into the gory details, but it could have gone better. I know that it's a human trait that every single culture has all of these traditions built around food, but honestly, sometimes it makes my life a tremendous pain in the neck.

I understand that the intentions are always good. Seriously, a neighborhood ice cream social sounds great. Come on out, make a sundae in the park, meet your neighbors, etc. For most people, this is an excellent opportunity. However, our decision not to eat like everyone else turns into a bit of punishment here.

It's kind of a funny thing actually. Of all the ways you can divert yourself from a culture, food choices are surprisingly painful. Most of the ways people differ from those around them are internal - beliefs that wouldn't come out until you had gotten to know someone better. The decision not to eat meat or dairy, however, puts me in a special, awkward place, because as soon as I arrive, I can't participate normally. I have to either not eat at all, which at a social eating event stands out a little, or I have to find a way to being substitute foods with me, which I still haven't figured out how to do discreetly.

I suppose the real issue is that I'm already socially awkward at these things. I'm extremely self-conscious around people I don't know. Honestly, I have no idea why, but I am. The fact that I'm at a party explicitly built around food that I have chosen not to partake of amplifies this tremendously. I'm self-conscious, and then I'm drawing attention to myself because I'm choosing not to engage in the same behavior as everyone else. Silly to be sure, but the mere knowing that an emotion is ridiculous rarely allows us to change it.

Anyway, now I'm concerned that my social awkwardness, which I would otherwise write off as acceptable, could be affecting the kids and how they interact with people. So now it's something else I have to fix about myself. Fortunately, I have until Thursday, when we attend the home owner's association pizza party. I'm sure I will have come up with something by then. I'll start working on conversation starters if nothing else.

So, who else here likes pants?