The Wild Blog in the West

Oh whoops -- hey.  Didn't see you. Hello. You're one of those introverts, right?  You don't smile and you hate people? And a jolly good day to you, too, sir. Well you are, aren't you? Insofar as we are a "type," I guess so. So it's true you don't know how to be happy? False.  Introverts are as capable of happiness as anyone else. Then why does the media keep saying you're miserable? Probably because most of the media never look past the surface.  They see us standing by ourselves, not talking, and go "OMG, they must be sooooooo sad!1!1!1"  But the thing is, we're not sad by nature.  I like  spending time alone and not talking.  It makes me happy.  But somehow the media got it in their collective bubble head that if I'm not parading around drunk and topless on a homecoming float, if I'm not talking trash about my friends, my life choices are not worthy of attention, much less respect. Huh? You stopped l

Say you were taking public transportation.  If you were in the middle of an activity, such as putting on cologne, makeup, or nail polish, and someone in the seat behind you said: "Excuse me, I'm sorry: your [insert activity] is causing me to have an allergic reaction," what would you do? In my case, my immediate response would be: "Oh, I'm so sorry!"  And I would promptly stop the activity.  Maybe afterward, I would wonder if my activity were really that bad, or if I should have really had to stop.  But my FIRST reaction would be: "Oh, I'm so SORRY."  Because I would understand that I was not in my own bathroom and that I was sharing this space with other people, and that other people could be affected by what I do.  Even when I'm in a shitty mood, I am mindful of this. Not an actual representation of my train.  This one is much, much nicer. So this morning, I was sitting behind a man and a woman on the BART train into San Franc