Fitting in and belonging

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I am very extroverted but I don't always know how to mingle with people in a larger social gathering. So I try to just jump in as much as possible. I found that I get along with someone one on one but when there is more than one person in a group, I have a harder time understanding the unwritten social rules of relationships. Believe me, I have hate them.

At work, for example, I get along with several woman there but they get together and often just leave me out. I can hear them talking and goofing off. Then as soon as I try to join it's, "We are talking about personal information, we'll talk another time."(This one always makes me cry).

I've had similar situations. Although I am fairly decent within group settings, I'm less inclined to join in a group discussion than I would be one on one. Some of the social rules really [i]are[i] confusing. I've made some blunders in the past...and gotten some strange looks from people.

I think getting older has made it kind of easier to deal with social situations. Which is good. But, having read some other posts by older folk, it seems that we're stuck in making mistakes in social situations. Hopefully I'm wrong about that.

As an aside, I recall reading a novel where one of the major characters was exceedingly good at dealing with various types of personalities/characters. And the funny thing is, I found myself being envious of such an ability.