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2001-05-07 | 8:45 p.m.

Was outside just now trying to get all the kids to come into the house (it's so hot they want to play with the hose) when some people walked by on the sidewalk; a couple with a baby. The girls, seeing the baby, made a beeline toward the stroller, which made the couple start to turn around (clearly wanting to show off the baby) but I hesitated, like always, which made them hesitate, and they did a funny kind of three-point turn with the stroller, which I found endearing, so I walked down the steps to visit.

I asked them what the baby's name was and they said "Colette," so I said, "Bonjour, Colette," with a reasonably good French accent, to which they laughed enthusiastically. They remarked more than once on my troupe of little girls, so I made sure to call Jasper by name, to tip them off that he is actually a boy, but they didn't seem to notice. So I let it go.

Anyway we had a little conversation, and I listened to them, and I said my bit, and instead of being in redneck idiot mode I seemed to be in normal mode, and just before we parted ways I made a mildly witty and topical comment and at no point did I embarrass myself in the slightest.

The only reason I mention it is to remind myself that I am often capable of ordinary, even gracious, social interactions. It just doesn't seem like it because I tend not to remember them.

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