Social Chameleons

Many of us have grown up with friends we have known since our childhood.  We also meet friends of friends at that age and some of these friendships have continued to our senior years. All of us have great memories of our childhood being carefree happy days, regardless of whether we had money or not. Those born in the 1960s will recall that life was simpler, especially because we did not have mobile phones and all the other modern gadgets we are now exposed to. 

Upon reaching adulthood, we took different paths and are presently in varying circumstances.  Some have accumulated wealth, held great positions and have many possessions, while others have made their mark and are renowned either locally or internationally.  Then there are those who are in difficult circumstances, either owing to health issues or addictions or financial constraints.  Many of these put it down to their karma, a word loosely used out of context, which makes them feel happy with their lot.

We have pleasant and super catch ups with our friends when we meet on a one to one basis where everything is normal, conversations sincere.  However, meeting the same lot at a social gathering is a completely different game as the majority seem to find the need to behave like social chameleons.  The person you know has taken on a different persona, mainly to fit in with most of the crowd and also to play to the gallery.  Notably, they become loud, arrogant and very egoistic.  You begin to wonder whether this is the same person you had a very grounded conversation with the other day. Social chameleon behaviour is most noticeable at the majority of gatherings in our city.

The chameleon personality is described as a person tending to pick up mannerisms and accents they happen to notice in other people, unconsciously mimicking them. Walking into a room, they quickly pick up on the expectations of those around them and want to become them or better. Meanwhile, their private self stays hidden. The goal is to create a public face that leaves a pleasing and memorable impression. And they generally succeed. Such behaviour is bewildering and frightening and also amusing.