Unfiltered Story #259745

I arrive at a house for a party attended by my friends and friends of my family. I’m a teenager. [Adult #1], the mom of the household, has always insisted on maintaining a formal relationship with people my age; while other adults are more friendly and easier to talk to, I’ve always found any conversations with her to be awkward and uncomfortable. Add to the fact that I’m bad at small talk, and I’m never sure what’s appropriate to say to her or not. [Adult #1] greets me at the door while [Adult #2], another house guest, is passing through the foyer.

Me: Hi. Um, your lawn looks nice.

Adult #1: *puzzled, but polite* Thank you.

I sit down on a couch in the living room and chat with other friends. After about 10 minutes, [Adult #2] sits down next to me. He has a laptop and starts showing me search results of gardening tools on [lawn & garden store]’s website and tells me the difference between each item. He looks at me expectantly.

Me: *confused* Um…those look nice? Are you planning on doing some gardening? Are you looking for some advice? I don’t know if I’m the best person to ask about that.

Adult #2: No. You’re doing the gardening.

Me: No, I’m not.

Adult #2: You were telling [Adult #1] that you’re doing some yard work.

Me: All I said was that her lawn looked nice. I was just making small talk. At least, I thought I was.

[Adult #2] gives me a blank look. I never did get an explanation out of him, but I wonder if he had a whole conversation with me in his head and forgot it didn’t happen in reality.