Here’s a little tale from last weekend that hopefully people can relate to. A good friend of mine who has recently moved to NYC invited me to a house party. Now, in the past I might have made an excuse not to go, since I did not know any of the other guests, but I have recently made a committment to accept all such invitations unless I have a really good, genuine excuse.
My buddy lives in Long Island, and it’s an ordeal even getting out there. I have to change trains twice, and then hop in a taxi, where I am completely befuddled by the lack of a meter and the fact that I am made to share with 3 other people. Things are different out in Long Island. But I digress. I am feeling pretty anxious by the time I get there, and as soon as they open the front door I realize I have made a big mistake. This is a Karaoke party!
Oh God. Is there anything worse for a sufferer of social anxiety? There are only five other people at this party, and they are all big Karaoke-singing extroverts. I had not felt so uncomfortable for a long time. So I make a beeline for the fridge, grab a beer, and then start to gorge myself with food. Anything to avoid having to sing. Of course I am not given a choice though. This is the thing about extroverts that drives all of us crazy. By now they are all singing Billie Jean and doing horrible Moonwalk imitations, and I am being told that I “HAVE TO” sing. I try to brush them off, but they are persistent.
Now singing in front of a room of strangers is probably a terrifying proposition for anyone with social anxiety. But on top of that I am a particularly bad singer. When I was in high school I learned the violin for a year and was so bad that our usually-fierce guarddog used to run to the farthest corner in the house and howl. And my violin playing is not even as bad as my singing voice. Anyway, back to the story. It looks like I am not going to escape without one song. So I offer to sing one with someone else. A duet. Nice.
