Connecting

Tonight I had the rare opportunity to 'go out.' That is, meet old friends and lots of new people at a time of the day suitable and preferable for adults (after work). For logistical reasons, though, we had to take our kids with us and, well, that redefines to concept of going out quite a bit ;) So no free night out, taking the city by storm, or anything like that. Actually there was a torrential downpour and thunderstorm tonight but that's another story...

Despite our entourage of tiny tots, the fundaments of going out were there. It was evening. It was dark and late. We went to a restaurant. Other people were there. Some were old friends but the majority were new faces. We got to connect with those old faces and we had to mingle with the new ones. 

So what happens when a family with small kids interacts with people hanging out? Frankly nothing that spectacular. I noted my keenness to chat with my friends but when it came to befriending new people I mainly noted my sleep deprivation, the fussy baby in my arms, and the momentarily unknown whereabouts of my toddler. Hence the former felt re-energizing but the latter a bit draining. This is not to say there wasn't potential, I mean these people seemed very interesting and nice as well. But at least tonight going out was pretty tame. 

As far as connections go, I'd say there were two types of encounters. To greatly generalize, type one assumed us parents (there were four of us) had little in common with them, the professional, single wo/man-about-town. Type two didn't assume a lack of connection as they had no time to do so, they were so busy talking themselves... ;) On a more serious note, as my mom commented on my 'grandma' blog entry, true connections don't rely on a time or place. Despite who you are as far as your public roles go, connections can be found. It just takes a moment for people to notice each other and start listening. Going out - should do it more often, you never know who you'll befriend until you do.