<p>I actually have no trouble talking to strangers on the phone, nor very close friends. I do have trouble calling someone I'm acquainted with, or someone I'm trying to impress. I always feel like an intrusion... like the time a few weeks ago when I called the guy I like on a Sunday evening (and that was after he'd asked me to call, or in my eyes, "given me permission") and, after a brief conversation, he said he had to go because he was with his family. I guess it hadn't occurred to me that most families, being less dysfunctional than mine, treat weekends as "family time" as opposed to "lock yourself up in your room and read" time. Oops.</p>
<p>Now that I think of it, it seems as if my shyness is mostly the result of worrying that people might not like me. I'm fine doing newspaper layout because I'm doing my job and am useful; I'm fine calling strangers because I need information from them and they're there to answer me. I'm not fine in large groups of people I don't know very well because I always imagine that they're judging me.</p>