Hey! How are you? What are you doing these days?

How many times have you come back to your hometown for the holidays, funerals, weddings, reunions, etc.... and had these words asked at you with feined interest. "Hey" "How are you" What are you doing these days" they are asked at you in robotic fashion over and over again as you circumnavigate a room in search of a much needed drink or silence. The faces mouthing these words repeat and your answers grow increasingly hostile. Your mouth just seems to answer again and again the humdrum conversation started by people your pretty sure never even liked you, and your even surer that like you even less now that all you really share in accordance is an alma mater, a mutual friend, or maybe something as simple as a similar age bracket.
Your mouth gets dryer with each answer and the need to swallow a bottle of vodka, whiskey, or whatever your alleviation calls for overwhelms you, you rush to the bar flashing your $20 or maybe even a $100 so people will think you are successful and when the tender turns to you they can see in your eyes that the word "double" doesn't need to be asked, just poured. Swallowing it down suddenly you feel as if your evening has started over again, you see the same faces you couldn't stand earlier and you feel the need to conversate yourself. "Hey" "How are you" What are you doing these days" you feel yourself asking others. When did you become one of them? Was it the last drink you had that pushed you over the edge to becoming one of the masses of annoying people barraging one another with questions you can only imagine are designed to make you feel better about your great job, or acceptance into a master's program or on your up and coming research for your doctorate. Wow! When did I become one of these people? That question permeates into your mind and all you can do is laugh and talk the night away occasionaly checking your watch or cell phone to see if it is last call time yet and you can get out of there.