What is the lesson?

Went to a work happy hour tonight. Doesn't happen often. The last time I went was probably a year and a half ago. I don't think much of the regular happy hour crew. Based on past experience, happy hour is an extension of the bitching and gossiping about work that they do during work. Pretty exciting stuff.

But tonight's happy hour was different. It wasn't just with co-workers. It was also with several former co-workers... We've had A LOT of people leave over the last 8-10 months (approx. 1 person every 2 weeks or so) and there are a few of them I'd like to see again - one in particular. So I went. It was good to catch up with her & hear how her new adventures in teaching are going.

A current co-worker told me I should go to a strip club w/ him & some other folks because I need to do something a little more "left-of-center". What? Really? I need to go to a strip club because you think I'm lame? I was more annoyed than I thought I'd be at his judgement of me. Am I lame? I mean, yes, I probably am lame. I don't go to strip clubs, or get in fights at pool halls or... really, there are a ridiculous number of things that I don't do - too many to name. I know we all make judgements about people - that's how we get through life. There's a lot of guess work and judging to do. In the 3 years I've worked there, we've never had a conversation about anything but work or some stupid nonsense going on in his life. Don't know why I'm so irritated. We get along pretty well.

I guess I judged him as a lonely guy with a tough-guy attitude to hide behind so I always gave him the benefit of the doubt. Might be true. Might not.

What he thinks doesn't even matter though. It doesn't change anything about me or my life - except that I'm mildly annoyed right now. When will I stop caring what people think? I was going to say that I should at least stop caring about the opinions of those that I don't actually care about - but I realize I do care about him. I wish he wasn't lonely because that's a shitty place to be...