Sports events

If I'm playing in the game,(*) I'm excited about it. If a family member or friend is playing, I'll watch and stay interested. If I don't know a soul, I have trouble caring.

I'm just not part of our harmless ritual of belonging: fans rooting for their team.

I've been like that all my life. It's probably a deficit of character somehow. It's not at though I spend the time with more productive pursuits -- I manage to waste time other, generally less social, ways.

It certainly cuts down on the small-talk possibilities.

(*) My knees say playing baseball is much less likely than it used to be, and once I was out of school and away from PE, it was improbable even then.