Uncanny prediction. Based on the following pictures, we might be inclined to agree. (P.S. I’ve been informed Snopes says he didn’t say this) Still, a ponderable quote -smile.

Planning the honeymoon

How about a day at the beach?

Young

Old

On a date?

Dinner with family and friends?

Egads!  Does anyone else see themselves here?

________________________

I have a sweet son, who is learning how to engage with the human race.  It has been hard for him.  He is a Millenial, raised on technology. It’s so difficult for young people to stay connected in a real way.

You may not know this about me, but I am really, truly shy.  Internally, I agonize over interacting with the human race. If someone has a child or a dog, I zero in on them and then the rest happen as it may.  Have you ever seen others do that? They go for the dog?

I was lucky though. I did not have technology to hide behind. I had a stage mom who forced me into modeling and putting me into charm school.  Do they even have those anymore?  I learned how to walk, talk, dress and smile.  Yup! It wasn’t easy, but I learned.

She then poked and prodded for me to enter beauty contests and finally land my first real job as a flight attendant. A glamorous, glib, flight attendant!!!  Talk about scary.  In those days we didn’t have recorded devices to give you emergency information.  We actually had to memorize and make these announcements ourselves.

My first PA was ghastly.  I’ll never forget seeing my training stew running up the aisle to quickly inform me to lower my voice a few notches so I wouldn’t panic the passengers.  I was shaking like a leaf. Before long, I was practically performing skits to entertain passengers, especially on delayed trips, or fog outs/ins.  I was forced to engage.

Kids today are generally really not stupid, though. They just don’t know how to interact.  I have noticed that young people have difficulty either relating to adults or to their peers.  They are seldom strong in both. I’ve seen teens and young people who just cannot engage with or be in the presence of an adult without looking like they are about to leap out of their own skin!  I know my son, does well with adults and children, but is terrified of his peers.  I know some of that is because he has ADD and was bullied in school, but it has not gone away.  It still haunts him.

He says, he wants to be more like me.  I gave him my tricks.  For parties, I arrive early and get busy helping. This way people come in one at a time and it’s less scary.  Take a pal with you, someone to talk to. They don’t have to know you are using them as a crutch. Check out the room, there is usually someone there as nervous as you. Go to that person and engage them in conversation.  If they are unresponsive, because that is often the case, move on.  When doing this becomes a habit, you no longer think of how frightened you are.

These days, even though I’m married, I do most things alone. He’s not into theater, movies and the like, so I go alone to go at all. Those I know that do, live far away from me. I’m actually surprised at how many people I know, especially in California who don’t care for the arts.  When I go to LA for networking, I’m alone.  Fortunately, many artists are introverts, so I’m in good company.  Again, I arrive early, which helps a lot.

Do I spend time on the phone? Oh yeah, but I’m working on it.  Mostly I’m guilty of doing it with my hubby. Yes, I have to admit to sitting in the car driving cross country with my him doing this very thing. He didn’t like it.  Since then, unless I’m checking directions, I do my best to keep him engaged.  After all, what if he falls asleep and I don’t notice and there we go, veering off the highway into a ditch or maybe into a semi? It could happen.

Preoccupation with the phone is something I try not to do while with others. It’s rude and hurtful.  When someone does it to me, it just tells me they’d rather be on their phone than in my presence and quite frankly, if that’s the case then… Ba, BYE!

More and more I’m working up the nerve to just tell someone that’s how it feels.

 

Okay, so really?

Come on give them some credit! Maybe they’re researching the artist?

• Pictures courtesy of dreamstime.com, the web and personal.