Unsolicited Advice

You may recall that a while back I posted an anecdote about spooking one of our dance teachers. I asked him about his JD out of what he thought was the clear blue sky, having momentarily forgotten that he'd put it in his email sig. I admit the impulse to do this strikes mostly because I find the startled reaction funny; I indulge this one because it's arguably a good thing to remind people that the cool things they do are, in fact, visible to other humans. Turns out that once I explained how I knew that, he also thought it was pretty funny. I was suddenly a very interesting person, and he wanted to hang out and chat. This is great, and also makes me very nervous. It's not that people never talk to me at the desk, just that I'm the receptionist and therefore basically scenery, so it's not something they have much investment in. I am a part of the familiar tableau, and the small talk they make is part of the ritual of coming in for their classes, like saying good morn