1:23 p.m. - January 23, 2004
Begin self-talk now: I can do this, I can do this, I can do this and not feel guilty
Participating in a social event � onward and upward! � and not overly enthusiastic about the event packed with colleagues because work-talk will dominate and gossip will flit. The mentee has asked if it would be improper for him to attend and I wonder if he felt slighted that I neither informed him of the event nor invited him, thereby preventing him from establishing contacts and an entr�e into the Interpreting World of Name-Dropping. I was non-committal in my response, not knowing the answer myself: This is not a friends-party but a people-in-the-same-specialized-field-party-cum-agency-love-fest. I remarked that he�s free to do as he pleases.
My assigned duty is to bring salad. I�m bringing two: A regular leafy-green type, and the Chinese chicken from Mal. Cooking and social in the same day? Strides, strides!
I can be social. I can be gracious. I can be chatty and conversational. I can do this.
Ryan II is a little � hurt? Overlooked? Irritated? � and this is a stumbling block when one is out and the other isn�t. Reminded him we aren�t in a relationship, just dating, so what does he expect? A quick rejoinder: What do you expect? and I feel guilty. Guilty!
Separate spheres of influence, that�s all.
