Party Savior

It was a party where each guest was expected to be scintillating enough to save the entire event and to have resources enough to engage and carry everyone else, and so as each person entered there was an excited greeting and expectant stare, with enthusiastic nodding as he or she displayed resources that never did prove adequate to the task.  As new guests joined older ones, sinking into the furniture, scrambling for the redeeming bit of conversation, all eyes turned to the door in anticipation of the next candidate for savior of the party.