I hate icebreakers. Hate is a strong word…I dislike icebreakers. I don’t see the value in sharing personal information with people I just met for the purpose of “fun group discussion.”
…he said earnestly to strangers on the Internet.
OK fair enough. Still. There have to be better ways to introduce oneself to a group other than a format which tends to lend itself either to braggadocio or shaming. “Nothing about your family, huh? Must be a serial killer.” “OK, we get it – You’re heir to the Van Hoosefudge fortune and use words like ‘winter’ and ‘summer’ as verbs. Congratulations.’
Arguably I am just a negative person. Whatever. Anyway, here are my three most recent icebreaker “Fun Facts.”
- I have watched the sun rise from Virginia Beach and set over Lands End. Sunset was much cooler. – This was my first time going somewhere just to go: Virginia Beach and San Francisco. There are pictures somewhere…anyway, no one told me how effing cold it gets in San Francisco or that there are no people in Virginia Beach off-season except locals. And the locals are rabid.
- I have been to CIA, NSA, and FBI headquarters. CIA has the best food. – Still true. CIA also has a Starbucks which I always found amusing. Also the State Department has the coolest lobby while Justice feels like a museum. Justice holds a special place in my heart because I badged in under official portraits of Obama and Holder. Moving.
- One of my goals is to be conversational enough in another language to not make a fool of myself overseas. I got myself out of a speeding ticket in Costa Rica and found a bathroom in Germany but those don’t really count. In China I just point at things. – There are moderately amusing stories that go along with each of these examples, none of which are appropriate for people I just met. Strangers on the Internet, however…