When I was small , fading into the background seemed to reduce bullying . In my preteens , I began getting the kind of attention , I wasn't interested in , so withdrew more . When I worked , work preferred introverts . When I retired and moved , I needed to learn to make friends . I began looking for interesting groups to join , and did make a few friends , but still had the , " fade into the background/shadows personality ." Most of my new neighbors worked , and weren't interested in new friends outside of their jobs . It's been difficult for me to simply walk up to others and start a conversation , mush less one that could possibly lead to any kind of ongoing friendship . I noticed when I was shopping , that most of the others in scooters , were sad looking . What could I do to change that ? Hmmm . I drew my scooter up next to another one , and chirped ," Hey , wanna race ? " They grinned , as I continued on my route . Cool , that works . Saw a young woman with family ( parents ), who obviously had some kind of learning disabilities , but I squeezed my scooter in amongst her family members , and asked her . She thought it was hilarious . And I scooted off . Everyone either grins or laughs . No one has ever said yes . One day , someone I'd never seen before , did the same to me . I so did not expect it , that even I laughed , I grant myself one (imaginary) gold star for every time I can make someone smile or laugh . No further expectations expected . That's a start . What makes people laugh ? The unexpected ! Yeah ! How can I get others to willingly approach and begin to talk to a fat , unattractive , disabled old woman ? I enjoy Sci/Fi . I get a kick out of cos-play . I began putting costumes together for the SCA decades ago , although nothing spectacular . Just kind of blend in . I rather like dragons , and decided several years ago to convert my scooter into a dragon , if I could . Started out rather piecemeal . The hardest part seemed to be finding a suitable mask . That took work , a lot of searching , and a sickening amount of money . But I took the leap . The dragon scooter is the major part of my costume . Kids are in awe of him . Other disabled folks , get a great kick out of something special , by ,"one of their own ," so to speak . Mother Nature has decided at this point in my life , that I should have white hair . Then I got a huge boost from , J.R.R. Martin . Some time back , I picked up a delightful little dragon , that can wrap around my neck or wrist , at ComicPalooza . I was at Hobby Lobby at Easter and found a couple of ceramic eggs . I dug out a small fabric dragon purse I bought at Balticon , decades ago . It was designed to be worn on a belt , which I didn't have . I found a small fabric fanny pack , intended to be worn under clothes for passport and airline tickets , decades ago . It has an elastic belt with a hook that slides through the dragon purse . So I shoved the fanny pack itself to my back with the dragon egg holder on my lap . I went to an Art show , held for an artist , who does beautiful pictures of Star Wars , LoR , GoT , etc. I noticed a couple of cos-players there in garb . I was hoping to talk with a couple of them , but they were posing for photos with kids . I went back out to my van and got dragon . Later I was just off to the side watching them , when they came to me ! WOW ! The lovely lady , told me she was working on a future costume , to include dragons , and wanted to know all about where I got mine ! Since then , I've taken dragons to other events , not necessairly intended for cos-play , but I always get noticed (even if it's only for dragon) , and people often ask to take photos , even though , sometimes it's just dragon they want without me in the picture .