I was at a dinner party the other night and during that awkward stage when you are meeting strangers, one guy goes on for 15 minutes about the ant infestation in his apartment and I was going out of my mind with boredom, truly, I wanted to climb the walls. What are some polite ways to try to steer a conversation with two strangers when you are all going to be together for several hours that night and who knows how many times you’ll meet up again in the future?
My friends note that I am very particular, need to have everything, including conversation my way or I’m not happy.
My other problem is that when I get too involved in a discussion, I become harsh and closed off to alternative points of view.
I get overwhelmed by my implicit memories and brain encoding, stuff that is beyond my rational reach, and my emotions get stirred up and I’m either impatiently bored or out of control.
