A couple of weeks ago, we went to G's holiday party.

I don't like going to these kind of functions, mainly because I don't know anybody and the reason I don't know anybody is because I don't like going to these kind of functions. A dilemma.

We got there and I knew it was going to be a long night. It seems like all the other spouses have their own clique. We headed towards the bar and G got his first drink of the night. I looked around, there was a lady sitting by herself. She caught my eye and smiled, so I smiled back. G took forever to get his drink. The lady motioned to me to join her and have a seat and I did.

We started with the usual small talk. Another problem I have, I am no good with small talks. She asked me if I wasn't drinking and I replied that I really shouldn't I'm driving but I really need one. She said same thing with her but as soon as she walked in, she said she needed a drink. We started talking about how everybody was dressed. See the thing was, it was supposedly semi-casual but for some reason, a lot of the spouses were wearing something that I would say semi-formal. I thought she didn't looked too bad, she had some dress pants on, a red top and a black jacket. What it boils down to is... I felt under-dressed. Don't you just hate that. She asked me where I lived and she said that we're practically neighbors, her house is the first house in our area. That's when I realized who she was.

She's Chef's wife. They arrived here the same time as we did and while we were in temporary housing, they lived across from us. I admit, I have this thing, I am big on first impressions and the first impression that I have on her was not positive. I thought she and her husband were too loud and I thought her husband was obnoxious.

She then proceeded to say that I should get a drink and we'll just share a cab home. I walked over to G and talked to him about the plan and he agreed. I was amazed how this lady took the effort to include me. Maybe, she too was feeling left out, I don't know but she came with another spouse, who incidentally also got here the same time frame but they actually bounded and remained friends. All in all, the night turned out pretty good.

I see her around a lot now and when we do run into each other we try to catch up. Too bad that we only have a few more months left here. The point to all this is...
I shouldn't be judgmental. If I actually made the effort to talk to her back then who knows, we could have been very good friends by now.