I Don't "Get" Guy Talk

So this morning I was part of a conversation at work with several of my co-workers (all men), and as is sometimes the case, there was a little mild teasing going on (I forget about who, exactly). Trying to get into the spirit of the thing, I made a joke that kind of ribbed one of the guys for not being as unrealistically awesome as his predecessor was. Then I almost immediately felt bad for doing so, because I was worried I'd hurt his feelings. Not that he'd ever admit to that, of course, and honestly, given the tone of the conversation, I doubt anyone gave it a second thought beyond the initial chuckle. But I so often read these things wrong!

I'm at a point in my career where it's becoming just as much about my people skills as it is my technical skills, and situations like this have a tendency to make me overthink everything. It's like I'm speaking a foreign language when I try to banter with guys, because I have no instinct for it. Maybe this is a learned trait that I just never learned, because I hung out with nerds and other social outcasts through most of my growing-up years. I don't know.

And you can just forget about "smack talk" before any kind of game or sporting event. My brain's just not wired that way.