I (35M) went to a party with about 30 people the other day, and caught up with a couple of friends. Most of the people at this party are Baby Boomers, but I befriended one when I used to do theatre, and have gotten to know about four others over time. I teach at a middle school, so people like to ask me stories from the job, and I'll be honest: I like to tell some of these stories. This week in particular, I finally had a parent meeting regarding a student who has been so incredibly manipulative that my sub plans now say, "Any conversation regarding [this student] will require witness testimonies," because the dean, the counselor, and the assistant principal are tired of her antics. The good news is that because of this meeting, she was finally experiencing some consequences for her actions.

There was another teacher at this party, and even though I wasn't really talking to him (he was just too far away for me to feel we could comfortably have a conversation), he felt the need to talk to me about teaching. He asked how long I had been teaching and guessed 3 years. I said I had been teaching full-time for 4 years, and had been a substitute teacher for 6 years prior (which isn't my full resumé, but I was trying to keep things simple). First he said, "I knew it!" and then gave me a lecture about how he doesn't talk about work outside of work hours, and that I'm clearly on the edge of burnout, and I need to learn how to compartmentalize. The two times I tried to say something about having weekend plans or that I just process emotions differently from him, he cut me off and kept saying he was speaking from the heart as he gave me his lecture. When he finally finished, I just said, "Thank you," and then walked over to my friends to tell them I was leaving. He did apologize to me before I left and I said not to worry about it.

One the one hand, I'm pretty sure I'm not the asshole because it's not my fault if I introduce myself to someone, they ask what I do for work, and then they immediately ask about the horror stories. I also did try to talk about other things at the party, and I made a point of asking my friends about their families and their projects. I also think this gentleman and I just have different worldviews because he teaches advanced math at a high school in an upper middle class area, so we are serving completely different populations.

On the other hand, I probably could have timed leaving better, even if it was an hour after I initially planned my exit. I also did hit a point in the lecture where I just said things like, "Yup. Uh huh. Yes. Mm-hmm," just to get it to end faster, but now I keep thinking I was more dismissive than I should have been. Finally, while I'm not initiating telling these horror stories to new acquaintances, I'm also not shutting down the conversations.

Anyway, am I overthinking this?