The people who know me casually see me as someone who would seem quite normal.  I don’t throw off this weird vibe (at least I don’t think I do).  I tend to blend in and mirror the crowd I’m with.  When I’m with people who want to have the usual “hi, how ya doin'” kind of conversation, I can small talk with the best of them.  When I’m with a group of friends ready to party, I can party with the best of them.  I guess I’m saying that the conversation I’m having in my head can be filtered and used for good, not evil.  Sometimes, the evil slips out. I’ve been told that I tend to say whatever is on my mind without filtering it.  That’s true now, but that’s not always been the case.  I don’t always say everything I’m thinking.  That would make my cloak of invisibility fall off and you would see how much of a nut job I really am!

When I was a young boy, I was surrounded by a large, loud family.  I’m talking 13 kids, two parents, four cats, one dog kind of large, loud family!  My only hope to survive was to observe how the older siblings got into trouble and I tried to do the opposite.  That worked out until I was the older brother in the house.  I found new ways to get into trouble!  I figured out that the less my dad heard, the better off we all were.  You could haul off and smack your brother in the head, make him cry, and Dad would come in and yell at the kid crying!  I experienced this phenomenon from both sides.  It was bizarre being the one making someone cry and then sitting there while Dad yelled at them.  He gave a cursory yell at the offender, but the loud one was the one who was really in trouble.  So I learned that quiet is good and keeps you out of trouble.

The problem with this is, you really can become invisible in a group if all you do is observe without adding to the conversation.  It took me a long time to become more vocal in group settings.  Even so, I’m not the most talkative or loudest of the bunch.  When I’m with a group of friends, there’s usually one person who dominates the conversation.  They can be loud and boisterous and make people laugh at how silly they are.  That will never be my style.  I will sit there and pay attention and laugh when appropriate.  There comes a time in every conversation like this where something pops into my head that may or may not be appropriate to share.  When I do share, and it gets a laugh, I learn that sometimes the weird thoughts in my head can be appreciated by others.  I’ll never tell a “guy walks into a bar” joke, or clown around in a crowd.  There’s too much of the “quiet keeps you safe” in me to be that guy.

At home with Alana, it’s a different story.  Here, I have an audience of one and she’s a great audience!  She loves the silly!  I can be a clown with her.  Everything I do that makes her laugh has to be repeated so she can laugh again.  After being with her for over a year, I could record a “best of” album of my greatest moments in silly!  When the wedding planning began, and we had to go meet professional photographers, DJs, and the Rabbi, she saw my professional persona for the first time.  This is the persona I try to maintain at work, though I’m not always successful with that.  She was surprised at how “serious” I was in those meetings.  I just explained that’s just how I am in those situations.  I can’t be myself in every situation.  So, she gets to see all the crazy that’s inside my head because she loves that shit.

The battle in my brain is ongoing.  If you’ve been lucky enough (cursed enough) to be on the receiving end of a snarky comment on facebook, you’re welcome.  You’ve experienced the unfiltered version of me.  The other me, the quiet me sitting on the sidelines is having an unbelievable conversation with myself!  I really need one of those cartoon thought bubbles hovering over my head.  On second thought, that would be really dangerous to your well-being!  It’s in your best interest that I not say everything I’m thinking.    I’m not really being quiet to protect me, I’m being quiet to protect you!