On the next selected shorts, we reveal what strangers, in-laws, and even famous people

might secretly think about you.

Well, not you specifically, we're not that clairvoyant, but you generally, because maybe

we're just a little clairvoyant.

I'm your host, Meg Wallitzer, join me, Parker Posey, Zedie Smith, and others for stories

about what's hidden behind the eyes of people you love, and even people you've never met.

I'm your host, Meg Wallitzer, and you're listening to selected shorts, where our greatest actors

transport us through the magic of fiction, one short story at a time.

We're all pretty good at managing some kind of public face, maybe you're someone who's

sort of a loof when you're around people you don't know, or else you get really chatty,

or maybe you're sort of a loof until forced into sudden chattyness.

My default public face is a kind of cautious friendliness, because when I go somewhere and

I get introduced to someone, if I say nice to meet you, I'm always afraid it might be

a person I've met before, and sometimes it is, and they say, actually, we've met.

So these days, I no longer say nice to meet you, but instead I go for that vague phrase,

nice to see you, which means, hey, I think we've already met, but I'm not really sure,

so I'm going to speak to you now in this general, but slightly warm way.

And if it turns out, we've never met, I'll turn a little less warm, because otherwise I'd

seem too friendly, weirdly friendly, in which case the other person might say, excuse me,

I need to go freshen my drink, and they don't even have a drink in their hand.

The point is, we've all got these little mechanisms and tricks that help us stay afloat

in polite society.

...