Member since:
January 15, 2006

Hi, My Name is Kathy, and ---

August 22, 2006 08:44 AM EDT

views: 127 | rating: 8.8/10 (17 votes) | comments: 70

I'm an outgoing person.

Currently, I work in a busy retail environment and my job involves a lot of customer interaction. I've worked in journalism, I've waited on tables and I've been a secretary, all of which involved a lot of interaction with people.

From my earliest memories, I enjoyed connecting to people. One of my earliest memories is of a trip my mother and I took from Salt Lake to Seattle - to visit my father, who was the recipient of some award for young scientists under 30.

I was a small, adorable girl of 3 years old. The trip was a long train ride, and involved an even longer overnight trip.

We did not have passage on the Pullman Car. We were in Coach, something I think my mother always regretted.

At one point, I needed to go to the little girls' room. My mother took me, hand in hand. Along the way, a couple of people said,

"Oh, what a cute little girl you are -- you look just like Shirley Temple! What's your name?"

I needed nothing more. I was addicted to personal interaction. I did have cute little ringlets like Shirley Temple and I simply loved the comparison to my favorite film star.

"My name is Kathy!" I replied, brightly.

I resolved to come back and visit more, after I was through with the little girls room.

After my mother and I were back in our seats, I asked if I could go meet some more people. My mother was a very trusting sort (this was before the days of "DON'T talk to strangers - this was simply the days of "DON'T accept candy from a stranger"),and so my mother said, "Yes, of course, Kathy."

So, I began to walk down the aisle - as I did, people would stop and comment on how wonderful I was, and would ask me my name.

I was addicted. My mother began to regret her decision and came to retrieve me.

"Don't bother these fine people, Kathy," she admonished. "You need to come back to your seat."

Reluctantly, I complied. It was now growing dark. But I was bored and couldn't sleep. My mother, however, fell asleep quickly.

As soon as my mother was asleep, I snuck out. I resolved to meet everyone I could.

I walked down the aisle. If people didn't stop me to talk, i would gently tap them on the shoulder and say, "Hi, my name is Kathy, what's yours?"

Well, I only managed to bother about one half of the sleeping participants in our car. My mother awoke and was horrified to see me awaken people in the middle of the night.

She pulled me back to reality, temporarily.

I so enjoyed this little game of mine, that I resolved to continue it after my mother fell asleep, again.

And so I did. This time, I managed to meet everybody in this car (people who would acknowledge me, anyway) and proceeded to go to the next car.

For this, I had to open the connecting door to the next car. I do remember it being heavy and very difficult, but 3 year olds have a strength that is beyond worldly.

I opened it.

I was about halfway into the next car when my mother found me, horrified beyond belief.

"Kathy, I was looking everywhere for you! I was afraid you had gotten lost."

"Oh, I'm not lost - I'm meeting everybody, Mommy."

"Well, you must get back to bed."

I did comply with dear mother's wishes, again. Eventually, I did fall asleep. But not before I recounted the joys of connecting with people.

These days, I don't resemble Shirley Temple as much as I used to. But my icon is Juliet Capulet - and I think she will do quite nicely as my introductory visual.

That said, I have this to say: "Hi, my name is Kathryn - do you want to connect?"