I have had to do one of those presentations at work this week that I really dread, namely basically a marketing exercise telling everyone how fantastic my team and I are, in the hope that we all get to curry favour with the bosses. By "everyone" I mean the various new regional Directors that have taken over in the latest reorganisation. It has been scheduled for some time now, and rescheduled on several occasions, so it has been on my mind for a while. The thing is, I didn't mention it to my husband - until the point when I was leaving the house, when I said something like "wish me luck in my presentation, small matter of a career to justify".... and that was that, I escaped.
I was once told that one of the fundamental differences between an extrovert and an introvert is how they switch off at the end of the day. An extrovert likes nothing more than to dissect their problems - chat to a partner or a good friend, and really download and offload. An introvert on the other hand, likes to shut off and get into another space completely.
Even after knowing me for 15 years, the fact that I very, very rarely talk about my day is something that still perplexes my other half. My husband is a sharer - he loves to dissect every moment; what so-and-so said about such-and-such, why this widget won't work with that one. I, on the other hand, detest nothing more than talking about work. For me, the ideal way to unwind at the end of a long day is with a glass of wine and a good book (and to be honest, after I have dealt with the kids at the end of my day, work could not be further from my mind).
Even as a child, I was the same - there was nothing I dreaded more than that inevitable question from my mum: "how was your day? what did you get up to at school?" The strange thing is that, now that my eldest daughter has been at school since September, I find myself exhibiting exactly the same tendencies - wanting to know all about her day, asking her how it went, who she played with. Her standard response is always "don't remember". I understand from other parents that this is fairly par for the course, but it will be interesting to see if she will continue in this vein as she gets older.
Of course, since I have discovered blogging, I do now have a way of unloading a little - maybe it will make a virtual extrovert out of me yet...
