Well, that would have exactly described me 16 years ago. I
don't think your behavior is that unusual in certain circles.
At the time I could have named a number of people like that in
either our lab or similar labs (aside from the public speaking
part, which I did find to be unusual).

--Bob

--- binace1 <binace1@...> wrote:

> Hello.
>
> This is my first time as a member of a group like this. I've
> looked at some of the other posts and saw that other people have
> some of the same problems that I do. My situation seems a bit
> different, though. I'm a thirty-year-old PhD scientist with a
> wonderful job and a fantastic salary. I routinely give talks to
> large audiences (> 100 people) without any difficulty whatsoever.
> In fact, I even enjoy this type of activity. On the other hand, if
> someone button-holes me in the hallway for a few minutes of idle
> chit-chat, my heart starts racing, beads of sweat pop out on my
> forehead, and I have no idea what to say. I find it almost
> impossible to maintain eye contact for longer than a few seconds and
> these conversations often end in awkward silences. Afterwards, I
> replay the scene continuously in my mind, trying to think of how I
> could have responded at different junctures in the conversation. I
> imagine my co-workers find me to be an aloof prick, but that's
> probably not accurate at all. What the hell is my problem?
> I don't have any friends, but that doesn't really bother me.
> I'm most comfortable and happy when I'm by myself. I wouldn't in
> any way characterize myself as lonely. Unfortunately, the world we
> occupy demands some socialization and I seem to be incapable of any
> normal casual interpersonal interaction. It's been liberating just
> to write this and I'm wondering if anyone else is in a similar
> situation to mine.
>
>
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>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
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>