My plumbing problem wasn’t a big deal, but the solution was beyond my meager fix-it skills. I went next door to ask my neighbor whether he knew how to replace the “seat and springs” on a faucet.
He and I worked on the problem together for about an hour before he decided he couldn’t do it either, so he called another neighbor — someone I don’t know — who lives about a block away. He said Brian used to work in plumbing a long time ago, so he could fix it.
After my neighbor left and it was just Brian and me, we were comparing notes about which neighbors we knew and didn’t know. I mentioned one guy who’s never been very friendly and Brian agreed.
“He seems kind of like a jerk, but I suspect it’s mostly that he’s not very social,” he said. “He just doesn’t have any social skills, unlike you, ’cause you’re obviously social and outgoing. I’ll bet you could talk to anybody. He can’t do that.”
I didn’t say what I was thinking, but I laughed inside. Me? “Social and outgoing”? Well, I see why he thinks so. And I found myself conscious once again that I was running a “social script.” Without thinking about it, I was playing the part of the friendly neighbor.
But I was just running an unconscious social script. It didn’t mean a thing.

You always need enough money that you can quit when it’s time
Why not join the LP? You can’t fight the state by becoming the state
Your ignored mistakes quickly become impossible to change
Modern obsession with ‘hot girls’ teaches everybody to be shallow
As humans live in slums, why do I complain about my privileged life?
What if I’ve fooled myself — and darkness is all that waits for me?
Despite death, finally finding love made life worth it for new widow
Shouldn’t standards be higher for those trusted to enforce our laws?
Who ‘owns’ children? And who should step in when parents fail?