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I just got back from the backyard/dance party I mentioned a while ago. It was an interesting experience: I've been to these sorts of events as the child of the invited people, but never just on my own merits before- as one of the adults. It wasn't So different, there were still people I knew, people I didn't know and people I'd seen but never met (and now I've met one of those folks I've seen every year at the Boston Christmas Eve dance marathon, one whose gender was briefly in question the first time I saw him actually), and there were still awkward pauses where no one can figure out how to start a conversation. But there wasn't any "now who do you belong to?" going on.
On the other hand, being at one of these events as a singleton rather than part of a matched set of 2, 3, or 4 people was also a new experience, and seemed to make some of the whole process a little more difficult: I think people who have some family member or person that they're at an event with look less awkward because they have a built-in comfort zone and someone to talk to until they can start interacting with the other guests. (This is possibly not helped by the fact that when I got there, I didn't really know anyone but the hosts: all the people I knew showed up a little later.) Just another way that the world seems to be built for people who come in units.
There were a really surprising number of kids at this thing: 4 under the age of 2, 5ish more between 2 and probably 12. And two folks who were pregnant. I finally got to meet Larry's little one, which was kind of exciting, amidst all those kids.
On the other hand, being at one of these events as a singleton rather than part of a matched set of 2, 3, or 4 people was also a new experience, and seemed to make some of the whole process a little more difficult: I think people who have some family member or person that they're at an event with look less awkward because they have a built-in comfort zone and someone to talk to until they can start interacting with the other guests. (This is possibly not helped by the fact that when I got there, I didn't really know anyone but the hosts: all the people I knew showed up a little later.) Just another way that the world seems to be built for people who come in units.
There were a really surprising number of kids at this thing: 4 under the age of 2, 5ish more between 2 and probably 12. And two folks who were pregnant. I finally got to meet Larry's little one, which was kind of exciting, amidst all those kids.