The defining characteristic of an introvert is that you feel drained being in a social situation. Extroverts feed off the energy of a crowd.
Crowds and social situations can be very different. With a half-dozen friends at a bar? Part of the audience at a concert, or at a football game? Part of a team in some competition? Holiday dinner with distant relatives? Stuck in a pedestrian traffic jam? At a back yard party at a friend's house? Visiting a new meetup group for the first time?
> Crowds and social situations can be very different.
Indeed.
> With a half-dozen friends at a bar?
I have enjoyed many such situations like this many a time. Usually playing pool, and having beer. The beer helps immensely. I still felt I needed some peace and solitude during the event and regularly went away for 5 or 10 minutes to 'recharge'.
> Part of the audience at a concert, or at a football game?
I deliberately choose not to go to concerts very often - I despise going to areas with 100's or even 1000's of other human beings milling around - although if it's a particularly compelling concert I will make an effort, and mostly enjoy said concert, but look forward to getting away from all the hubub. I am not into football.
> Holiday dinner with distant relatives?
I enjoy that, but still very quickly feel drained at such and regularly go away to peace and quiet for 5 minutes and return partially renewed enough to continue until the next recharge.
> Stuck in a pedestrian traffic jam?
This is a very stressful and frustrating situation.
> At a back yard party at a friend's house?
I enjoy such, but will still go away for 5 minutes to recharge enough until the next time I need to recharge.
> Visiting a new meetup group for the first time?
This has always filled me with the utmost dread. Even now in my late 40's
> Visiting a new meetup group for the first time?
I think having some dread is more a common/normal thing, I'm very much an extrovert and this is a problem for me too.
Crowds and social situations can be very different. With a half-dozen friends at a bar? Part of the audience at a concert, or at a football game? Part of a team in some competition? Holiday dinner with distant relatives? Stuck in a pedestrian traffic jam? At a back yard party at a friend's house? Visiting a new meetup group for the first time?