STEPH DEROSA: PLEASE TO MEET YOU >>>

I'm typically happy to meet and see pretty much anyone I know when I'm out and about in the community. Whether I'm shopping with the babe, or sipping coffee with Bandito Betty, or cruisin the local weekend festivals with Carmen and The KAke; it's always assumed I will run into people I know. It's Tacoma, after all. Right?

I wish I could take a public poll: How many people feel the need to duck and hide sometimes in order to avoid the ol stop and chat? Is it wrong to feel that way sometimes? What are the laws of public conversation and how do we know our boundaries?

Perched upon my barstool at everyone's favorite, Parkway Tavern, I was there to accomplish two things: Catch up with Bandito and have a damn beer. I had no intention of hanging out with anyone else, but I go into any social situation with the assumption that I will spot a familiar face. What if I see someone I know, but don't feel like talking? What if they don't feel like talking to me? When is conversation necessary?

When the beer hit my bladder and it was time to break the seal, my time inside the bathroom gave me opportunity to calculate public conversation appropriateness.

1. If it's a crowded venue and you make eye contact with someone you know, a smile and wave is mandatory. If there is nothing important to say, keep moving. Very rarely do I pretend I don't see the person, but I have done so on small occasions, I'll admit it. This rule of thumb goes mainly when you are in a place where everyone is standing. Like a grocery store or concert.

2. At bars and restaurants I always say hi to people I know. If they are at another table, I will always stop to say hi, but I will never stay and chat. I think it's rude to leave without personally saying hi, but it's even ruder to interrupt their company for too long.

3. Now let's say I saw someone I recognized but had never met. I'm talking anyone from a mutual friend, all the way to a celebrity. This is a hard call. I suppose it depends on how I recognized the person.

• First example:You know my cousin Angie, and I just wanted to introduce myself¬" that is an easy one.
• Second example: A celebrity. In my heart of hearts, I say in no way would I bother them by showing up and fawning over them. If I'm introduced, then that's cool. I've stood next to celebrities being yelled at from afar, and it always bothered me that people were so intrusive. That being said, lately I've had some eye-opening experiences that confuse me on what stand I should take on all this social etiquette bullshit. Please see next note:
• Let me start out by saying that by no means do I view myself as a celebrity, by ANY stretch of the imagination. But it is a fact that I, amongst many other amazing people, write for the Weekly Volcano. Lately I've begun to meet people who recognize me and know me from this lil alternative weekly we have going on here¬" and I love it! It sincerely makes me so happy to hear that people read, how they feel about reading it, and what they have to say. Just typing this out makes me smile; it's genuinely nice to meet people who read the Weekly Volcano.

So I suppose that's where my confusion lies¬" I feel like I don't want to bother anyone, but I don't want to be rude by not saying hi, but then I don't mind being bothered when people want to say hi to me. Leave it to me to take something so insignificant, and put it in a Petri dish for closer analysis. 

Regardless, to everyone new I have met in the past few months it was certainly a pleasure to make your acquaintance. And of the 67,999,999,999 blogs out there on the Web to chose from, thank you for reading this one.

LINK: Toilet Tales archive
LINK: Steph DeRosa likes dive bars
LINK: Steph hangs in the Forum