A test for the Old People is posted on Carolyn's blog. I got 16 correct so I apparently am Not Quite Dirt yet. But if I took it based on what I remember from firsthand experience, I'd have scored less than 10. Are we supposed to actually remember these things from childhood, or just have heard of them or read about them? If it's the former, then my score drops quite a bit. I do remember those nasty wax bottles of sugar syrup, but they were a relic even when I was a kid. I remember sniffing mimeographed paper (a smell etched into memory for some of us) and Green Stamps and skates with clamps and keys, and I Left My Heart in San Francisco, (because everybody knows that, not because I owned the record). That's about it - anything else I got right came from a lot of reading and a brain that apparently was specially designed to collect useless trivia.

I found this great article about being an introvert on Nanette's blog. All I can say is Amen, Amen, Amen. Throughout my childhood I had people on my back about being "too quiet," and "shy," and basically labeling me with all these negative words, like I had something wrong with me because I actually liked spending time by myself, pursuing my own interests. I'm not anti-social and I'm not shy. I'm not depressed, I don't avoid social contact. I do not suffer from social anxiety and I know how to conduct myself in just about any social situation. I am friendly and natural and reasonably good at small talk, even when it annoys me, which is most of the time. But I do not seek out a lot of social activity, a little is enough, thanks.

I emailed this article to Boss, who forwarded it on to a bunch of people in HIS life. We are both introverts, which perhaps is why we get along so well on boring business trips - we are not driven to fill downtime with chatter, we tend to sit quietly in our own thoughts until we actually have something to say, then we talk, then when we're done with the subject we shut up again. We do talk quite a bit, but when we're quiet, we're quiet, and it doesn't mean a damn thing - neither of us is offended or thinks it's awkward. It's so pleasant. I've worked with and traveled with too many people who think silence is awkward and are just driven to fill it with banal chatter, constantly needing a response, and it drives me up the wall. Business travel with an extrovert is my idea of hell. Anyway, it's a great article and I'm so glad Nanette passed it along.