Chameleons...

Growing-up you come across people from all walks of life. Take the high school cafeteria for example....there is a fine line that divides the different seating available: the 'smart but semi-cool' area, the 'smart and geeky' area, the 'die-hard band members' area, the 'thespians' area, the 'future sorority/frat people' area, the 'druggies' area, the 'Gothic' area and alas the 'non-English speaking' area. We all know where we belonged. As such, we would buy our lunch and sit at our respective tables. And time-to-time snicker or crack a joke amongst our lunchroom peers about the other tables. The first day of school was always the day of declaration. You would declare to the rest of the school who you were going to be this year, based on where you chose to sit. Any drastic submissions would be rejected....but for the most part people never tried to fit in where they didn't belong. We all knew our place and were happy with who we were. However, there was always that one person that moved from table to table. The person that seemed to have the golden ticket that allowed them to sit at any table of their choice. This person was like a chameleon...they would blend in with their surroundings by finding something to relate to with each table. These chameleons were the most powerful people in school...usually destined to have their picture above the caption, "Class President" in their senior-year yearbook. Fast forward about ten years to Corporate America and you'll find yourself in a similar situation...just replace cafeteria lunches with after-work happy hours. You drink and hang-out with those that are in your group and time-to-time venture off to another group.....but only for a brief moment....not long enough to have a meaningful conversation but long enough for superiors to see that you are taking some imitative. Whether or not to try to find something of similar interest with everyone you meet is a personal preference. In the end, we tend to hang out with people of our own type in our personal lives, so why bother putting the extra effort at work. People often say that you just spread yourself thin by befriending everyone you meet...this may be true...but sometimes I'd like to think that you also develop more as a person. Knowing how different types of people function and think seems to be something that could come in handy later in my life. Besides, if anything...you get invited to more happy-hours...