Fun Day Sus Guy | Su 11/6

Yesterday the group invited me to play volleyball again today at Liberty in Plano. I was on the fence since I don't like to be outdoors during the day, especially after I'm sweating off my sunscreen, but figured I'd go for the special occasion.

I got to sleep 8 hours last night, which was great, and didn't have any shameful dreams, which was even better. I did my typical cleaning and laundry routine, but realized I wouldn't have enough time to vacuum and clean my shoes before leaving to play. Thankfully I was able to adjust well and leave reasonably on time without leaving my thing important halfway done.

Paying $9 didn't hurt much since I figured it was still worth it for the special occasion, but I was regretting it when I saw how busy the court was soon after. They had a whiteboard for people to queue up with, but there were so many people that they had add a 5th and 6th team slot. I waited a while before getting to play, but it didn't feel bad since I got to socialize and I planned on playing from 1-5 pm.

Eventually Andrew and Von showed up, which was surprising, some of us hung out in the outdoor plyometric training area of the rec center while waiting, and I did a lot of socializing. It was interesting seeing the crowd playing, some of whom I remember from when I came several months ago: old men of various demeanors, families bickering with each other, and friends being punks with each other. I played okay (serve receive and passing are still struggles) and I caught myself getting very into the game (slamming the floor when I messed up a hit, getting down on myself when I serve into the net).

Afterwards our group, along with folks who we know from Fridays and some guy Samir who started chatting with us randomly, went to Yin Tang for dinner. I never went there before then and didn't realize it's in the same plaza as the Plano Karen Dillard, which was a surprise to realize since the area was so boring when I had to be there regularly. The food was good, but I got way too much and packed up a lot of leftovers.

There was also an awkward moment I can't stop thinking about in retrospect involving Samir. For some reason he joked saying that Emily is perfect, to which I said that nobody is perfect. Then he immediately said "shut the fuck up" like he was so exasperated, which threw me off but I didn't react to much in the moment. I didn't see anyone else's face then, but I have a feeling they didn't expect it either since we all just met the guy. I suppose his sense of humor was different and his demeanor reminded me of Francisco (which I realize is a very bad thing now that I say it): likes talking, especially explaining things to others, but his sense of humor is a little off-color compared to the rest of the group's and he seems a little too interested in the girls.

It was also strange seeing him bow to us and the servers, mostly because the rest of his demeanor doesn't seem especially respectful, and it gave me the sense that he likes to look the part more than be it. Interacting with Samir made me realize both how little you learn about someone by having fun chatting with them and how a bad vibe can be felt even within a few hours of interacting. I realize that my experience with him (along with recent stuff like the Sammy and Jinn situations) has made me a bit more wary of people in general. Now I think I'm careful around people who I haven't seen some flaws in since that probably means I haven't spent long enough with them. The time it takes to see those flaws can vary, but I don't think I should judge how close I want to be with them until I do.

After dinner the small original group went to the Kung Fu Tea next door and we chatted about drinking (since I shared about my alleged drunk volleyball practice), Emily talked about things she likes to bake, and we watched and talked over some volleyball videos (Chinese 9 man volleyball, Japanese youth coed teams, Yuji Nishida's swing form compared to TJ DeFalco's). They eventually decided to call it and I was surprised that we ended so soon since it was only 8 pm, but they talked about work tomorrow and I kind of understand it now. Plus we spent a while together, but we just started much earlier in the day.

I came back home to finish my laundry and cleaning, which I'm glad I got to do, and now I'm about to sleep for a cool 7 hours. Gigi also wished me luck for my first day of proper work, which I'm a bit nervous about.