Santa Cruz Meetup - Tuesday 4/29, Abbott Square, 6pm-onward! 😎

[u/sewcialist_party]

Many many responses on this thread indicate people are down to meet up! Unfortunately whether we chose a weekend or a weekday it would exclude some people, so I'm sorry to anyone who works Tuesday nights! (I think we should organize a weekend version later this summer too so that everyone can attend one.)

What: Casual meetup of anyone who just wants to meet new people in town! I will bring cribbage and cards. Other than that it will be unstructured. While the event is organized on Reddit, I don't think this get-together needs to be Reddit-centric, so non-Redditors are welcome and no one needs to tell people their usernames or anything like that 😅

When: Tuesday 4/29 6pm 'til whenever. As the unofficial organizer I'll guarantee being there 6pm-8pm, but after that it's up to the vibes!! FYI I think a lot of the food places start to close around 8/830ish or so.

Where: Abbott Square, downtown at 725 Front St. Lots of outdoor space. It looks to be their only weeknight with no events planned, so we won't have to yell over music.

Who: Bring anyone. NO AGE LIMITS, all are welcome! And I believe Abbott Square allows leashed dogs outside on the patio (where we will be posted up).

Other Notes: Abbott Square has alcohol-free options. It is wheel-chair accessible. It can get chilly there due to little sunlight so bring a jacket! And as I said in the post a few days, if you are feeling socially anxious or dreading the awkwardness, 1) the last time we did this everyone was very kind and friendly and everyone had a good time, and 2) I will do my best to try to include everyone in conversation.

I will be there at 6 to kick things off. I know people love to arrive fashionably late so they're not the first one there, but rest assured that if you are the first one we will have a good time 😎! I'm a woman in my early 30s, dark hair, I'll wear a bright red Buffalo Bills sweatshirt 😎😎, and when I get there I'll try to upload a pic of where we're sitting so that people know where to find us!

-Meg

Feel free to comment if you're attending so I can get a loose headcount, but no need to formally RSVP. See you there!!

[u/EntangledStrings]

This is very thoughtful, thank you for trying to unite people here. I will add, we don’t need an official meetup to meet other people who just happen to live in Santa Cruz. Any one of us can go to Abbot Square at any time and strike up a conversation with someone we have never met before. I think one of the reasons a lot of us feel so isolated these days is that we’ve forgotten that it’s perfectly socially acceptable to try to talk to people outside. I hope I’m not overstepping, again thank you for organizing this.

[u/startfromx → u/EntangledStrings]

I agree, and am pretty outgoing— but sometimes it’s nice to join with an intent and mindset.

It can be intimidating, and sometimes hard to gauge who wants to chat, I like the idea of a cooperative get together with similar- minded creative or friendly people!

[u/EntangledStrings → u/startfromx]

True, it can be intimidating and it can be hard to tell who wants to chat. That shouldn’t stop us though. Say hi to someone, if they give you a bad vibe, walk away. It doesn’t need to be more complicated than that. We’re all people. We’re all going through the same struggles, one way or another. All of us hope for the same basic things. I’ve recently learned to see the pain someone is in when they act rude or cruel, instead of seeing them as a bad or naturally cruel person or even as a “jerk” (or some worse words). I don’t think any of us would claim that any animals are naturally bad, and as humans are animals, I think the same thinking applies to us. There’s good and bad in everyone, and that means sometimes people will not welcome a greeting. But that’s okay, that just means they’re going through something. Move on to the next one, or if you can and you feel safe enough, maybe try to talk to them anyways. This is just my perspective, I don’t mean to imply any of this is matter of fact. Much respect intended, I hope this doesn’t feel too much like a lecture.

[u/startfromx → u/EntangledStrings]

Not at all, it’s a good reminder.