Are You Versatile?

Are you a socially versatile person? In other words, could you have dinner at a private country club tonight, and eat a burger tomorrow night at McDonald's or have pizza at a local dive, and fit in at both places?

All my life, I've heard negative things about having this ability. Some say it's only for people who don't know who they really are, or they say you have to be a fake person to pull it off. I don't get that. Wherever I am, I know who I am and what I am. I know what is expected of me, and I make an effort not to offend anyone or draw unwanted attention to myself. I know to use a salad fork for the salad in an upscale restaurant, or I can pick up a sandwich at Burger King. No big deal to me.

If I hear about a good local hard rock band at a local biker bar, I'll put on jeans and a T-shirt and go check them out. I might even dance with one of the bikers, if he seems nice. If there's a top-notch opera performance I want to see the next evening, I'll put on a black evening dress, sip red wine in the lobby, and nobody there will know where I was the night before. I don't see a problem with it.

I think it's odd that so many people think it's great to travel in other countries and explore other cultures, but they won't do the same thing five miles from home.

If you can't be versatile, you just might be pretentious and stiff, overly concerned with stereotypes.

How do you guys see this?

 

I'm versatile,having been a middle-class kid growing up in working-class area,I've learned to adapt myself to many situations.

 

I would have to stop wearing my Jerry Garcia fashions all the time.

 

I have friends in prison, friends that work for a living and a friend that has a loft in Manhattan with a ninety foot long livingroom.
One summer my wife and I were at a party a m/c club I was with we went home shower and changed and were at a state dinner with the ambassador from Spain. I can fit in.

 

I consider myself to be versatile as demonstrated by my eclectic group of friends and varied interests. I do not consider it at all negative but rather an open mindedness that allows me, and others like me, to fit into any situation and honestly enjoy myself wherever I am.

KarenJ, who started this thread, is a perfect example of a versatile person. She is well versed in many topics and can adapt to any situation.

 

id have a pint and a natter with anyone at any time

 

The biggest criticism that I hear about versatility is drawing a parallel to being a phony. People just think you are pretending to be someone that you aren't, being a fake.

I don't agree with that pretense. I certainly think that it is a strength to be able to fit in to any crowd. It just says that you have a broad range of interests and are socially perceptive. No fault in that.

Having a sense of audience is a strength of mine, and I never feel like I'm acting. I've had a rich variety of influences from different social classes, and I appreciate that.

 

One reason I like reading espionage novels is that the spy is always so versatile in any situation. I like finding out how he/she handles it.

 

Being open to all or most situations life has to offer, contributes to over-all knowledge, experience and fun, I think. Even bad situations contribute to the living processes. Karen is one such who dives in and therefore "profits" from varied experiences.

 

I've had the same criticism. People have responded to me with "Who are you? Do you even know who you are?"

And yes, I do. I know that I love all types of people. I can get down with a homeless person and TOtALLY enjoy it or I can go to my parents yacht club and appear more socially graceful than the richest young adults there. Its called charisma.

Part is a natural gift, part is attributed to my diverse upbringing. I have a blended family (3 dads - 2 by marriage). When I was young, my mother was educated with a degree in religious philosophy but she struggled so we lived in a one bedroom and it was often difficult for her to make ends meet. I never knew this was the case though. She ended up marrying a man she loved (and still loves very much - though she was foolish and divorced him) who had a lot of money. So I've seen and appreciated people in all walks. I've had to get to know a lot of people on an intimate level, because you don't just marry the person you marry the family. Thats just my experience though.

 

I'm a socially awkward human being but I will go out and try new things. Just might not fit in with the rest of the crowd

 

Shiiiit, I'd eat all those meals in One day.
I am a little socially awkward especially when I'm on my own. When I'm on my own I feel eyes on me, I don't feel like this when I'm with my gf which is really good because that means I'm confident in public with my sexuality.
If I'm in my own Though I seem to play in my phone even though there's nothing to do on it, but it's more comfortable than smiling at human beings as they walk past me.

 

I prefer the pizza at the local dive. That is my real personality but I can behave and "fit in" in most situations. It doesn't mean I would look forward to a formal gathering at a country club but I also wouldn't make a complete ass out of myself either. I don't think it's being phoney or not knowing who you are. I think it's part of being an adult. You have to adapt to certain situations even if you're not comfortable.

A few years ago I had to sit next to the founder/owner of the world wide company that my husband works for at a Christmas party. We all drew #s and that was the table we drew. I literally sat right next to them so I had to behave myself and make conversation all night with them. I tend to have a personality that makes people comfortable to talk to me. By the end of the night the wife and I were laughing about how she was interrupted every 5 minutes by others in the company trying to kiss her ass. She thanked me for not being that way. No matter where you go, what you do or who you talk to you just have to remember that they shit just like you do. Nobody is better than anybody else.

 

Loving the narrow-minded conservatives is hard for me. I can tolerate them, for short periods of time. I keep my mouth shut.

My grandparents were working class people. My parents had done much better. I loved spending time with my grandparents. I learned so much from them!

Other kids at the country club would have thought I was a loser if I had told them I knew how to milk a cow. Umm... that's where milk comes from, people! It tastes better unpasteurized, still warm from the cow's body. You can't buy those experiences with money, unless you have enough to buy your own farm.

Several times in Las Vegas and Washington DC, I've ridden elevators with well-known people. They seemed relieved that I was treating them just like everybody else! It must be tiresome to constantly have a ton of people wanting something from you.

Elvis once said he would pay a million dollars to get just one day to live as an ordinary person. We get to do that every day, and it doesn't cost us a million bucks! :cheers2:

 

mhm, your life is richer because of those experiences yay for us yayyyy lol I'm geeking out with a smile now

 

I think I'm quite versatile. I can feel at home at a rave type party, or a classical recital. Wearing jeans or a smart suit.
Can't say I'd be happy at McDonald's, as I don't like or trust the food they serve. But happy eating fish and chips out of the paper, or dining at a posh restaurant. Sipping the Moet, or knocking down a pint of IPA.

Over my life I've met people from very diverse backgrounds, from the top to the bottom of the social scale.

Behind it all though I suppose I remain a middle class ex hippy. I'm more comfortable in an informal setting. And I too find I don't like being around right wing conservative types. Maybe partly because I see well that they are not versatile, but very much stuck in a particular mode.

 

I don't own a suit or sports jacket.

 

I'm fairly versatile, I can fit in just as well sipping wine and chatting with my wife's professional friends as I can chugging cans of PBR and smoking joints at a punk show.

 

I'm socially versatile I guess. In general I wouldn't really think of myself as extremely versatile hehe. Only in some aspects of life. I have to add though when I get really bored my social versatility seems to wither Hence why I appear more versatile in informal situations.