Contemplating Introverts

Seventy-five bucks for a seat belt ticket! You gotta be kidding me. (They're not.)

It occurred to me this morning as I broke into a spontaneous dance with my coffee cup while humming "Stars twinkle high above me, la la lalala la la la la Laaa" in the center of our great room, that it is very quiet living with two introverts. Neither my wife, Woowoo Charly or my brother, RTGFKAR, have ever been known to do what I was doing at that moment. I don't know for sure if they ever have sudden expressions of joy, but I have to assume they do even if I never catch them whistling a tune, singing aloud, dancing with their shadows or talking much above a whisper. Woowoo Charly moves so quietly about the house that she frequently startles RTGFKAR and I by appearing where she wasn't a moment ago. RTGFKAR does his gardening and landscaping by himself without a radio or Walkman or MP3 player to please the ears while bending the back. In the evenings when we sit outdoors to watch the sunset over Baru, I am the one who generally turns on the background music and initiates most of the conversations although Woowoo Charly will occasionally offer a topic from politics or one of the books she's reading. RTGFKAR likes to jump in with a witticism or a bon mot and to play Devil's Advocate from time to time, but there are long stretches of staring at the view silently while we sip our cocktails and I blow cigar smoke off into space. When you factor in that even I, the one extrovert, albeit a shy extrovert unless loosened with alcohol, spend hours silently in front of a computer and that our dog is the world's quietest canine, it's little wonder that I jump out of my skin (a neat trick that) when the phone rings.

I have to admit though, that here in my golden years? dotage? days of wine and a nice cuppa tea? that I enjoy the quiet. I do wonder from time to time, however, if my companions are happy. It is very hard to tell. Of course happiness is of greater concern to we Enneagram 7's than other types, but still, everyone, I'm told, wants to be happy. My troops are not even frequent smilers, so I have very few clues to their state of mind and emotions to go by. I'm guessing they are happy because they carry on...I almost said grimly, and don't complain. Still, I'd feel better if one of them was seen to jump for joy or whistle a happy tune.

Introverts, go figure.