Saturday afternoon, by the pool. Grace has her water spritzer and is sipping on a boozy slushie, Betsy’s stitching. We’re all sitting in silence, watching people partying by the pool.

It’s Day Two of Yes and Yes Yes, an interesting little non-conference in Palm Springs. (Or, as one put it; Burning Man + TED = Burning TED.)

Too. Much. Interaction. Introverts stick together, I guess. Don’t get me wrong: I had already put in my share of chatting people up in the pool (check!), chatting people up while waiting for drinks (check!), even joining the group game (!) on Day One. (And hey, just the fact that I didn’t know Grace nor Betsy before YxYY and now I’m hanging out with them all weekend is a big deal.) ;)

“I just want to sit somewhere quiet,” Betsy begins. “I mean, I just need a little time. But then I feel all guilty that I came all the way out here just to be by myself.”

“Me too!” I say. “I had to go back to the room for a bit to clear my head.”

“I have an idea,” Grace says. “Let’s plan Introverts’ Quiet Time. Then we can just go somewhere and sit and read in silence.”

We laugh. “Let’s do it! Wonder if anyone else’ll come.”

YxYY has an app where you can plan events on the fly (because the whole point of the weekend is to not have any plans and see where things take you) — Grace schedules Introverts’ Quiet Time for Sunday, 11:00 AM.

The next morning, the three of us are tweeting each other at 10:50 AM.

“Are you there yet?”

“I just woke up.”

“Are we going to be total introverts and bail on our own event?”

Lisa, my roommate, texts me. “I’m at Introverts’ Quiet Time. There are people here.”

By the time I get to the second floor of the Clubhouse, I find Lisa, along with five other people, sitting in silence. Reading. I set up my button maker in the craft section of the room, right beside Grace’s Mail Art station and start drawing patterns.

More people trickle in. Soon, Betsy and Grace come in, and we exchange smirks in silence.

I’m churning out buttons quietly. Betsy’s writing. Grace is on her Kindle.

Soon, noon hits and people start going out to catch the World Cup final, and it’s just the three of us left, like that afternoon by the pool.

As soon as the last person leaves, Betsy giggles. “People actually came!”

Grace looks up from her Kindle. “… and no one talked to each other!”

“This was such a good idea.”

We all laugh, and go back to sitting in silence.