Have you ever had something happen to you that you thought wouldn’t be out of place in a book, or a movie?
Have you ever had something happen to you that is too unbelievable, even for fiction?

One such events happened to me recently, and I feel I should share it with you because I think it holds a lesson for us all, especially those who struggle to connect with people or make friends.

Over the last two weekends I changed my working days in the day job to support a different part of the business. This meant I was working directly with customers. On my first day a customer, a lady, asked me about a product. She was hosting a cocktail evening for her friends and wanted a particular drink. My knowledge was very limited so I had to tell her a colleague would be back soon.

In the mean time we joked about our lack of knowledge and how we were both looking at which one had the prettiest label.
She told me about the drinks she was hoping to make and I made a joke about turning up for the cocktail evening, and she joked back saying I should.

So far so good, we were just doing the customer-server dance where neither really means what we’re saying but we’re filling time until someone comes along.

What follows is our dialogue as it happened

Me: My colleague may be a little while so you can finish your shopping and then come back here.
Customer: That’s okay, I’m finished and don’t mind waiting.
(now let’s remember we’d already been chatting for a while at this point)
Me: So where are you from?
Customer: Portugal.
Me: So am I!
Customer: Really?? That’s awesome, do you speak Portuguese?
Me: Yes.
(the rest of the conversation happens in Portuguese)
Customer: That’s so cool, you should definitely come to the cocktail evening. It’s only a few girlfriends and the men are only allowed in after 7 for dinner.
Me: I think I might join you, actually.
(STOP PRESS!! Ana does not do stuff like this. Ana politely refuses and moves on. Except… on that day, maybe due to the pain of being on her feet all day when she’s used to sit down at work, Ana’s brain answers for her.)
Customer: Let me take your number and I’ll text you which day we’re doing it. What’s your name? (pulls phone out)
Me: It’s Ana.
Customer: So am I!
Me: Okay then put in Ana Isabel. (Ana looks looks at me with a big smile.
Me: No way.
(Her name is Ana Isabel too.)
Me: Where to you live?
Ana: Street Road.
Me: I live on Street Road too! This is really strange, what a small world!

I received a text two days later and at the end of the week I joined Ana and her friends for the best cocktail afternoon ever. I talked, laughed, learned about their lives, told them about mine.

I’ve never been a social person. I enjoy meeting people and socializing but it needs to be the right person/people, and we need to have something in common, otherwise I won’t know what to talk about and end up being the awkward wallflower in the corner.

Spending the afternoon with a small group of women I’ve never met before was the breath of fresh air I never thought I needed in my life.

I couldn’t stay for the rest of the evening but Ana and I agreed to meet up for coffee and to have a proper chat this week. We met yesterday at a local coffee shop and spent three and a half hours chatting about anything and everything. If you’re thinking there is nothing else we could have found we have in common about each other, you’ll be wrong, because guess what?
Ana is also a published author. She wrote a non fiction book that has been traditionally published in Portugal and she’s in the process of re-editing and releasing in English.

So… for all my lovely introvert friends… It’ll never be easy to do the extrovert thing, but once in a blue moon take a chance, and you might just be surprised with what you get back.

Oh, and this story is definitely going to end up in a book at some point!

Till next month…

Ana