Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Oversharing: The Secret to Making Friends

Have you ever met someone and hit it off right away, finding yourself sharing way too much information in your first meeting and feeling totally normal about it? Well, this Saturday night, Kurt and I went to my friends’ Christmas party and did just that. We didn’t know many people, so naturally, we stood by the kitchen and intercepted homemade spanikopita fresh from the oven and mini apricot and brie filo pastries that burned the roofs of our mouths from the unsuspecting arms of our hostess. Yes, my friends, I know how to party. (Sidenote: this is also the best place to stand during the cocktail hour at weddings. No more will you be shouting, “THERE WERE MINI HOTDOGS?!” because you will have first dibs. You’re welcome.)

Anyway, after awhile, another couple came over and introduced themselves. They were our hosts’ neighbors and in the first 15 minutes we covered birth control, vasectomies, periods, and poop, without irony, or shame. Forget the weather and what you do for a living; apparently, the best way to make friends is to delve into those really, deeply personal and awkward topics. After realizing what we'd been talking about with, let's face it, perfect strangers, we laughed and moved on to more “appropriate” topics as more people joined our conversation. Meanwhile, I contemplated how to make these people our very best friends, because really, how often do you meet people right off the bat with whom topics like these surface naturally (outside of a doctor's office, of course)?

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