INTERESTING CONVERSATIONS
I attended a fundraiser this evening for the political candidate I'm supporting. I can't tell you how many of these cocktail-type parties I've been to in my professional career. Some are fun, because you bump into people you know; some aren't, because you don't know anyone and feel increasingly conspicuous as you stand alone in a room of strangers picking at your cheese and veggies.
This one was on the fun side, but not because I knew that many people. I guess I just decided that I was going to introduce myself to strangers and strike up conversations. And I had some interesting ones. A woman who is running for judge told me about how prepaid legal services are a sham, and how it's difficult to balance wanting to execute justice versus ruling in favor of the lawyer that presented the better case. The president of my neighborhood's local paper was there, and I asked him about his own opinion about whether newspapers could state that they supported a certain candidate and honestly be able to be impartial in covering a race. I chatted with another committee member, who emigrated from Russia thirty years ago, and hates going back because it is so not like the freedom we feel here in the US. The candidate's treasurer taught me a little bit about campaign finance.
And I rapped a little with candidate himself, who was second-guessing his decision to get to the event on time, rather than making a grand (and tardy) entrance to a full room. I reassured him that it communicated to his guests that he was "of them," to which he agreed: "I'm here early to help set up chairs and food; I guess that's the kind of guy I am." All in all, it was an educational and enjoyable evening. I might just have to try this cocktail party strategy again.
I attended a fundraiser this evening for the political candidate I'm supporting. I can't tell you how many of these cocktail-type parties I've been to in my professional career. Some are fun, because you bump into people you know; some aren't, because you don't know anyone and feel increasingly conspicuous as you stand alone in a room of strangers picking at your cheese and veggies.
This one was on the fun side, but not because I knew that many people. I guess I just decided that I was going to introduce myself to strangers and strike up conversations. And I had some interesting ones. A woman who is running for judge told me about how prepaid legal services are a sham, and how it's difficult to balance wanting to execute justice versus ruling in favor of the lawyer that presented the better case. The president of my neighborhood's local paper was there, and I asked him about his own opinion about whether newspapers could state that they supported a certain candidate and honestly be able to be impartial in covering a race. I chatted with another committee member, who emigrated from Russia thirty years ago, and hates going back because it is so not like the freedom we feel here in the US. The candidate's treasurer taught me a little bit about campaign finance.
And I rapped a little with candidate himself, who was second-guessing his decision to get to the event on time, rather than making a grand (and tardy) entrance to a full room. I reassured him that it communicated to his guests that he was "of them," to which he agreed: "I'm here early to help set up chairs and food; I guess that's the kind of guy I am." All in all, it was an educational and enjoyable evening. I might just have to try this cocktail party strategy again.
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