I Showed Up Alone At A Brunch Event Of 80 People
Was it a good idea for an introvert?
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I came across a meetup event one day somewhere online — a startup that organizes brunch meetups for people to make new friends. It’s been 3 years since I moved to a country 10k miles away from my own, I don’t have many friends and I thought, why not?
I tried inviting someone along but he insisted he didn’t want to go and I had a strong urge to go. What’s the worse that can happen? Eat, then leave and head home.
“It’s okay to do things solo. It’s okay to vibe by yourself.”
How It Works
You don’t literally sit with 80 people, by the way. I don’t know how they’re going to do that anyway.
When you make an RSVP, there is a form to fill out where the organizer wants to get to you better — mainly what your interests are. The organizer will then split the attendees based on their interests in different tables (we’re having brunch, after all). This was pre-COVID so we could still do indoor dining, by the way.
The table I was assigned to consists of about 8 people. It was a long table so obviously I couldn’t interact with everybody at the table, I was mainly chatting with 3 or 4 people sitting closest to me.
Brunch went well, I think?
I’m going to be honest, it was definitely terrifying showing up at the restaurant alone.
I see someone walking in, is she going to sit next to me?
Will we start a conversation?
Is it going to be an awkward conversation?
Oh a guy showed up and he’s just a seat away, guess I’ll introduce myself. He did too and told me he came with a few friends and was waiting for them. Oh no, I’m such a loser, being here alone.
I ended up sitting with people whom I feel are way above my league. I just quit my job, feeling lost in my career, trying to do the whole self-discovery/self-reflection thing, and get a new job.
Yet, I had Wall Street people, an entrepreneur sitting with me. No surprise, we went around the table introducing ourselves and the least…
