mingling

So we were forced to mingle with strangers tonight for Christmas eve dinner. Here is how it happened - my parents and I were going to have dinner with my cousin and his kids but then my cousin and his kids were invited to their next door neighbor's house for dinner. So they invited us all along as well. My mom beforehand said "don't worry, they have kids too! Kids your age!". I'm not sure how I felt being lumped as a kid and having them assume we would just play together or whatever. So we showed up at this stranger's house and they have tons of relatives there. It was their sons and daughters plus cousins plus aunts/uncles. You get the picture. My cousin saw us and said "go mingle!" and shoved us into the kitchen where all the second generation were chatting. Then various older folks kept pointing out various people to me: "he went to Stanford - do you recognize him?". I'm not sure why they think we would instantly connect. They kept pushing my sister and I go to mingle with the other "young folk". But we refused to be coerced at first and instead hung out with my cousin's kids who we rarely get a chance to talk to anyways. And at the first chance we got, my sister and I escaped after dinner.