I absolutely sympathize. Some people seem to be born with social skills. I wasn't. I've had to work hard to develop what little I have, and I still don't know what to do nine tenths of the time.

A book that helped me, although I'm sure it's out of print and I don't think it was a best seller, was "Is There Life After High School?" (Interrupts self to investigate, comes back with this: I was wrong on both counts. Here it is.)

It was Nora Ephron, interviewed in the book, who gave me the most practical advice I ever received as a student: Stop always being the one with your hand up, ready to answer the question. The lower stayed her hand, said the author, the higher went her popularity. Too bad I was a senior before I read that. But I took the advice, and it worked. My senior year was a lot easier on me than previous years had been. Before that, my hand was always waving. I was like Arnold Horshak with the "Ooh, ohh, call on me, I know!" You see, I had the delusion that other people thought of me as stupid (because often, they told me exactly that) and I felt I had to "prove" I was smart. In reality, they knew I was smart, and they perceived my behavior as rubbing it in their faces. I wish someone had told me. But most people wouldn't have had to be told.