Stood Up

Stood Up

So last couple weeks, I’ve been going on and on about making concerted efforts to meet people. I talked about finding activity groups and about joining Meetups. In fact, I signed up for like five groups– Mandarin language, anti-trafficking, Chinese professionals, etc.

So on Monday, the San Leandro Chinese language meetup scheduled their third get together. Seeing as one person confirmed, plus there was the organizer, I assumed that meant at least two people. Five others (including myself) RSVPed “maybe.” Well Monday night rolled around, and I felt myself getting lazy about driving to East Bay. I reasoned that maybe no one would show or that maybe they’d be a bunch of middle-aged bores (which I am NOT!). In the end, I knew I had to go. How else was I supposed to make friends?

I invited John (we were meeting at a Denny’s, after all) but even the Grand Slam breakfast wasn’t enough to entice him. He declined, preferring instead to watch Monday night football. I figured. So I made the trek across the San Mateo Bridge alone. When I arrived, the Denny’s was empty, save for three tables. There were three Chinese adults at one of the tables. Maybe they were the meetup members? I started approaching until I noticed they were fully engrossed in conversation, AND they had their food already. I arrived at Denny’s exactly on time… the members wouldn’t be so rude as to order ahead, right? So I waited. And waited. And waited. They weren’t looking for anyone either. I called the organizer, but he didn’t answer. Ten minutes passed and the three Chinese up and left.

The organizer finally called back and apologized. He had just started a new job, so he couldn’t make it, blah, blah. And the other “yes” person (the assistant organizer, btw), seeing as he was the only one confirmed, decided to cancel. Well gee, maybe he could have notified all the “maybes” that the damn thing was canceled? Wtf?! You know, I’d heard the accusations before, but I didn’t want to believe them. But shit, the evidence is overwhelming now (my case PLUS many others’): SFers are fucking flakey, man. They just decide last minute not to attend something and they don’t even bother to tell anyone else. Selfish bastards. Yeah, I’m bitter about it. Still.

So anyway, I called John to tell him no one showed. Ever the cynic, he just laughed in his “I told you so” kind of way.

Fortunately, the evening wasn’t a total bust. I had eyed a Nordies Rack on the way in, so the night was salvaged with me-time shopping. Of course, I didn’t find jack shit, but I guess I got to look around (and feel totally disenchanted by today’s fashion).

My second meetup occured last night in the city: the anti-trafficking meetup. You gotta give it up for feminists, man. They have their shit together. We got handouts, a mission statement, goals statement, a goddamn agenda! Sure, the topic was depressing as hell, and I got a massive headache learning about the abolitionists vs. regulationists points of views but still, it was cool to just be around people with passionate, you know? People who really believe their personal actions matter. Some consider them foolish idealists. I don’t care what you call them. I’m just glad I found them.

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