depressingly accurate

Now I feel bad that I don't get everyone's phone numbers at the parties I go to.

I usually have great conversations with people I like, and then "play it cool" about ever following up or meeting them again, and rely, merely, on the possibility of meeting or bumping into them again at some future party, however unlikely that may be.

Oops.

I've made it a rule to never go to parties where I don't know at least a few people fairly well. Party small talk with strangers is the worst kind of small talk. The worst was a time I was talking to this drunk army dude who was spewing out the manly bullshit and I was pretending to be amazed by. I found out he used to live around where I did and I jokingly said something about living just down the road from the mini red-light district. Which was basically a collection of random shack like buildings that were 'smoke shops' and 'massage palors'. And he in his quiet drunk guy, yet still very loud, voice, confided, 'Just between you and me I like go there and get a hand-job or BJ when I'm on R&R.' His fiance was well within ear-shot and instantly staring daggers.

There aren't many times I've felt more awkward than that. I was just talking to some dude to pass the time so I wouldn't look like a boring pussy for leaving the 'cool' party early.