Neither Chris nor Diane went to parties as kids; they were bookworms with inconveniently timed birthdays. Chris doesn’t like fun, at least not of the roller-coaster, wild-party variety. Diane went through a carefree going-out-a-lot period in her twenties, but sometimes feels like she’s getting less sure of herself as she gets older. Naturally, these were the people I thought of for an episode about parties.

After all, a lot of us are a bit ambivalent about the whole party thing. So, for non-party people, what makes a party actually enjoyable? Is it better to show up early, or late? When you realize you’ve been talking to someone for too long and you want to circulate, what do you do? All this, plus an analysis of “friend flirting” as opposed to “real” flirting!