0184 - Party time - 2021.04.12

Comic!

Comment:

I've seen it said - and, for what it's worth, I agree - that there are no such things as "introverts" and "extroverts", and certainly not as exclusively binary categories. Everyone just has their own upper limit and lower limit for social interaction, and if you go too high above the upper or too low below the lower, you start to get... weird.

If forced to categorize myself, I usually say I'm an introvert, but I have a pretty broad range with it. My high is reasonably high and my low is extremely low. I can handle crowds and even audiences fairly well, and I have no problem either being the center of attention or hanging back. Conversely, I have no problem spending days at a time away from people - indeed, I would say I thrive when I'm locked away from the world like a monk.

Lee and Caleb are, obviously, both pretty introverted, but I think we can agree that both of them long ago passed the "getting weird" stage. Zoa, in contrast, has no upper and lower limit - assuming it can keep itself functioning, it could handle isolation for years and years... although, presumably, at some point it would delete the social subroutines that are taking up space, which may constitute "getting weird".

At the time I'm writing this, 2021, after a year of pandemic isolation, I'm really jonesing for a party, even if it's nothing more than drinking protein and watching cartoons. Even in this case, though, I'm a little more choosy than Quip is, here. Yes, everyone here is a college student, and Quip is an extremely college student-y college student, but still.

Transcript:

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0184 - 2167/07/06/16:32 - apartment lobby, elevators.
CP: Okay, so... we're on different floors. So... so I guess you can g-get in one elevator and I c-can get in another. And I'll... I'll see you in class.
LC: You... you don't want to keep talking to me?
CP: No! No, I mean, I do, but... but I don't want to.... to impose myself on you? I guess?
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LC: I was just thinking.... y'know... I went outside and I talked to another human being. Not really in the way that I'm supposed to, but... but that's one of the things Doc keeps telling me I need to do. Maybe... maybe you could tell Doc that I did that? That might make it less annoyed at being... at having to shut up or whatever.
Zoa: You can tell Doc that you talked to Caleb, and I can back you up, if it doesn't believe you. Caleb doesn't need to be there or anything.
Zoa: Unless you want them to be.
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LC: I mean, I don't want to keep Caleb from anything... anything important they might be doing... I already made them jump out a window!
CP: Oh, I wasn't... I mean, you didn't... I mean, I could... come in and... yeah.
Zoa: Hey, yeah, come on in, talk to Doc, talk about the syllabus together, get some protein slurries, maybe watch some original episodes of Sox, Plate 'n Tottle, sounds like a party to me!
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(Quip Bruncklemeyer and Pamela Zimmerman poke their heads in)
QB: Oh, hey, did someone say there was gonna be a party?
LC: Hnnnngh no no no no no
Zoa (blocking Lee and Caleb from having to interact): Not at the moment, friend, but thank you for your interest!
Zoa: (Also, hi, my name is Zoa, and if you want to rent me for parties, my group rates are very reasonable!)
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