Connect With Your Community!
Connect With Your Community!
n my line of work, I cover many different community events.
It’s always great to get out during Rodeo week in Three Forks to visit with people and take in the wonderful sense of community the event brings.
I’m far less social when not working; sometimes, I want as little human interaction as possible. It’s certainly not every day, but sometimes I don’t handle people well.
It’s nothing against anyone these days; I want to get in and out of where I’m going as quickly as possible.
Over the past nine years, I’ve gotten to know quite a few people in Montana, so there is always some chance I will run into someone I know, especially in Three Forks or Whitehall. Occasionally, I’ll run into someone I know in Bozeman, Butte, or Helena, but I’m generally pretty safe in those places when I’m antisocial.
A few years ago, when the family came to visit, we ate a late lunch before going to a movie in Butte, and I was in a crabby mood. As we were finishing, someone I graduated with in Wyoming approached our table. She had seen me walk in and wanted to come in and say hi. I wasn’t safe on that day. I’ve run into former classmates at places like Disneyland, so it’s always interesting to see how small of a world it can be sometimes. Since it was a chance encounter that day, I tried my best to be as social as possible.
Last summer, when I made the trip to visit my mom in Wyoming, I was just about as social as I could be for the first two days, even if it felt a bit overwhelming to try and visit with friends and family. By the third day, I just wanted to enjoy some takeout and sit and visit with my mom while enjoying her air conditioner.
We had both stayed up probably way past our bedtimes the previous day, so we only had a few things planned, other than a trip to the store to get a few items.
As we were getting ready to check out, my mom alerted me that someone we knew very well had just entered the store.
I’m unsure if I was joking at first, but I asked if it would be possible to hide or maneuver around the store so we would not have to have a thirty-minute conversation.
To my surprise, my mom said it was a splendid idea.
I wish I could have seen a recording of us wandering around the store, trying to hide. I didn’t think my mom had it in her, but she was like a seasoned pro directing us from the frozen foods to the produce so we would not have to stand there and chit-chat. At one point, we were almost in a full sprint to avoid detection, and I’m sure my mom would have climbed into the freezer with the pizzas if I asked her to. Once we saw the person had left, we checked out and ensured they had driven away before exiting the store.
Looking back, I felt terrible about avoiding someone, but it was a great bonding experience with my mom, so it worked out in my favor. We should have probably had t-shirts made to celebrate the “great escape of 2023”.
It wasn’t until after we returned to her house that I realized this was the second time I had done this at the same Smith’s grocery store.
I once had a stepmom who was a little crazy, and after my dad passed away, I didn’t always like to have awkward conversations with her, especially at the store where she worked.
On a day when I was having a bout of social anxiety, I saw that she was working in the produce section, and I couldn’t do it. Although I needed an onion, I quickly turned around. I panicked and wasn’t sure what to do.
I walked away from my cart, probably only had four or five items, walked right into the back of the store by the meat counter, and found an exit. I still remember the employees’ looks as I tried to escape. I had to walk outside the store and to my car, where I drove a few miles to shop elsewhere. I can’t believe how ridiculous it can get when I don’t want to talk to someone, but it always feels right at the time.
