Say the word, and you'll be free....

I think I am socially maladjusted

     I can't talk to people.
     I mean, people I don't know really well.
     I went to the BZ holiday party tonight and I had a nice time.  I went and said hello to all the people I knew at the party.  There were about 17.
     Most of the conversations went like this:
     Hello Tanya.
     Hello Terry.
     Total silence, looking around, then drifting apart.
     I can't engage in small talk with people.  It is really hard for me.  I always say something so weird that I think I scare them away.
     Once I get comfortable with a person, I am fine.
     But put me in a room with 80 people, and I seem to be the proverbial wall flower.  I sit off to the side and watch.
     Jackie went with, and it is even harder for her.
     "I don't know anyone here," she said.  "Go talk to your friends.  I am fine."
      So I saw a girl named Molly who had a cool NIU sweater on....I said, '"Molly, that is a great sweater."  She said, "Thank you."  Look around, find food,  drift apart with mouth full.
     And why is it when I can't think of anything to say, I grin like an idiot and stuff a cookie in my mouth?  I bet I gained 5 pounds tonight!
     Is it my style, or do people find it hard to talk to me?
      It's the same way at weddings, funerals, birthday parties.....I get stuck after saying a word or two as an opener.  I just can't seem to engage.  If there happens to be three people, the other two have a great guns conversation while I stand there, looking for food.
     I have to practice and figure this out.....there is a picnic in the summer and I am hoping to go.
     And don't get me wrong, I did visit with a couple of people....but I spent a lot of time talking with my wife.  And that is fine, but I can do that at home.
     So feel free to invite me to your next party so I can practice.  Just be sure to have plenty of cookies, just in case.