"I'm with the Meetup Group..."

And the Blue Heron crickets chirp.

"the Giambalvo party?
"Uhm, I don't know... Patti's the name I think. We're a meetup group, I mean we've never met in person."
"Are you a party of a 14...?"
"That sounds like us. I mean, I don't know. We just meet online and then we go out to eat. God, I hate being the first one."

And that's when 50-something Patti walks in donning leggings and a sweatshirt. Great.

I knew I was in for a night.
[I wish there were pictures to accompany this story but they would have been quite odd to take..]

I'd like to point out that a table set for 14, an extra server and a dishwasher later, the meetup group only brought out 6 friends this evening. "The York Dining Out Meetup Group"... or something like that. Maybe that explains my hasty judgements..

Either way, the situation left two frustrated servers, laughing in the kitchen trying to figure out just what was going on. 

Apparently the whole premise is that people who want to meet other people join these meetup groups for a variety of reasons - LGBT, Professionals Social Club, Motorcycle Riders, Watercolor WOW Class... You name it, there's a group for it.

Well sure enough in the modern world of iPhone mania, Maria and I googled it as the other meetup members piled in, hung their coats and shuffled to their seats in the back. Low and behold, we were selected as the location for 'The December Holiday Dinner That Does Not Involve Bickering or Drama'. Great!

You can only imagine the awkwardness that ensued as Maria and I forced one another to the door to great the next guest, not sure what to expect from the evening.

All I can leave you with are some quotes/topics of discussion from the evening:
- "You get a pound of steak... AND a half pound crab cake!"... who can eat that much?!
- "I was falling asleep in my truck so I ate on the way here... I have a thing for Arby's.."
- "No, you don't need to open the wine - I had to try them out on the way."

Honestly though, they were sweet people. Genuinely interested in good company and good food. And maybe our first judgments were a bit rash. So who knows, don't knock it until you try it, right? It has me thinking what would I want to share and learn? What skills do I have that others find in common? Oil Painting meetup? A blogger meetup? How about the "I've-got-a-crazy-5-year-old-brother" meetup - they probably have one! French foodies? Imagine the possibilites.

So if you're looking for something to do, find a meetup near you.

 www.meetup.com 

Really, it's that easy.
Find a hobby, find new friends, find good food.

Tell Me About It: What meetup group would you want to join? What's one of those things on your "bucket list" that you're just dying to learn? What's one of your hobbies that you'd like to share with others?