Scowl Face

This past weekend was extremely busy for me - since the beginning of January, I had been planning a Spring reception (even though it's not quite Spring yet) for my local alumni club - it was really a one-woman show because our club officers are going through a transition so I really didn't have anyone I could depend on with follow through because everyone is kind of new. Also it was easier for me to handle and be in the know if I just did it all myself.

Well from what I've been told, it was a success. Of course no one realizes how much you sweat over stuff like this but as long as everyone had a great time, that's all I care about. The main thing I was nervous about was making a speech in front of 90+ people where I only really knew 20% of the people. There were a lot of new faces and I was just so nervous because a bulk of the attendees were older than me. I just wanted to make a good impression.

The days leading up to the event became more and more nerve-wracking, all the way up to being at the locale. I think what really got me through the speech and calmed my nerves was greeting each person one by one as they came through the check-in line. I think it gave me a sense of "knowing them" in some way and surprisingly, I wasn't as nervous as I thought I would be during my speech.

There was one girl who stood out, in particular, that put me a little on edge. I'll call her 'Scowl Face.' It wasn't so much that she was scowling at me as I felt like she was just GLARING at me. And it wasn't a questionable glare - it was a scary, make me feel uneasy glare. If I was looking around the room and I happened to make eye contact with her, she was glaring. When I was making my speech and had people's attention, I happened to look in her direction and she was glaring. I honestly wondered if I had offended her in any way or if she was just that way - a glaring scowler. It really made me uncomfortable.

It wasn't until the end that I really got to talk to her and lo-and-behold, she was SUPER nice. She had won the prize we were raffling off and asked if we had a spare bag for her to carry it in. I got her one and she said in all this cheeriness, 'Thank you so much - I had such a great time!' The voice and the sentiment behind it just didn't match the face that was looking me in the eye - still glaring. My uneasiness about her went away after I spoke with her for a little bit and I just came to the conclusion that this is the way she looks - like she has a constant scowl on her face and if you look at her, she looks like she's glaring at you. Now I know not to be scared of her and that she is a really friendly girl....probably just shy...and glare-y.