When was the last time you really stood out in a crowd? Are you comfortable in that position, or do you wish you could fade into the woodwork?
Once, when I was a senior in high school, my English teacher, Mister Faust, who was the best English teacher, our class was dedicated to Shakespeare and he had the gift of dimystifying the language. He had made plans to take us to the theatre to see A Merchant of Venice with Derek Jacobi at the Gotham Theatre in New York City. The idea was for the class to meet in the lobby a half hour before curtain call. My father still had his second restaurant Le Chatelet two blocks away from the Gotham theatre so I made the point to have dinner with my father. After dinner my father gave me a glass of champagne and sent me off wishing me a lovely evening.
As I walked towards the theatre I felt a presence following me and when I looked behind me, there was a man and he gave me a very bad feeling. I got to the theatre and the whole facade of the lobby was floor to ceiling glass. I could see my classmates and Mister Faust standing amongst a huge crowd of people, the lobby was packed. I quickly went to the revolving doors with two thoughts on my mind; getting away from the bad man and getting to my teacher. I went through the revolving doors and crashed through one of the glass doors, and burst into the lobby.
The entire lobby fell silent and I was in shock, followed by a tremendous embarrassment. I wanted to fall through the floor at that moment.
I still went to the play, I couldn't miss Derek Jacobi now could I?
To this day I would always rather melt into the background then be in front and possible be the focus of attention.
laurieanichols 
I understand that feeling but imagine if you hadn’t crashed in…the alternative doesn’t bear thinking about.
I know given the choice between crashing through a glass door and having to deal with the bad man, I’ll take the glass door every time, incredibly I only received a small cut on my forehead and a small cut on my knee, I really wanted to get away from that man. 🙂
I think other than the shyness factor that can cause someone to freeze in place when they feel the “eyes of the world” on them; Whether someone wants to fade into the woodwork or be out front has a lot to do with our experiences. Many from early in our childhood. I remember as a young boy, I was happy to stay in the back, out of sight. But the first time I had to do something in front of the class and received applause, my mind began to change. I also played sports and usually one way or another, you are at the forefront when you are “at bat”. My experiences of first receiving applause and then getting used to the idea of others watching me when I played sports gave me a comfort that stayed with me for all my years. Whereas on the other hand, someone who was never given that opportunity may feel small when the spotlight is on them and just want to melt away. I believe that whether someone is an extravert or introvert has just as much to do with nature as it does nurture. But that is simply my humble opinion. Have a great evening.
Love, equanimity, peace. TimurZ
I think that you are quite spot on with your assessment of the balance between nature and nurture in this equation, I had almost always encountered negativity with any public speaking or participation in sports, coupled with being shy and you will get a programmed wallflower. Thank goodness I married an extrovert because I wouldn’t meet many people. 🙂
🙂 I love not only your writing but you sense of humour as well. Have a wonderful night!
You are so sweet!!!! Thank you so much, you put a smile on my face 🙂
Gosh! What an entrance!
It was one for the books, that’s for sure, hee, hee.