Out and About

I've been trying to widen my social circle lately, actively pursuing situations, places and people I wouldn't usually come in contact with. I like the friends I have, but I don't want to waste an opportunity in this place to feel like I'm a part of the community, not just living here but being of the place. Walking down the street or going to the park and seeing someone I recognize is so gratifying. My natural inertia and need for my own space and time is absolutely necessary to my sanity, but I won't allow it to keep me from doing new things. My mantra right now is that I probably won't regret doing ____, but chances are I'll regret not doing it. That's been true for everything I've tried so far here. I've pushed myself out of my element, surprised myself a number of times by doing things completely unnatural to me, but I wouldn't have changed or traded those times for anything. I guess it started with bootcamp, then the soccer team full of people I didn't meet until 5 minutes before the first game; the pick-up games at Zilker that I hope to keep up indefinitely; random social events I've tripped into and then last night with the 'Drinkstrong' pub-crawl on bikes. My friend J. Danger sent me a link to a guy's posting on Craigslist, opening his and his friends' monthly tradition to the public, and I couldn't NOT reply. It was a bit of a dare, a 'hell, why not' moment, but as the date neared I wondered at the reality of the plan-I would ride my bike to a pub to meet up with people I've never met, never spoken to, never seen, to sit around and drink beer, then ride with them to another place to do the same, 5 times total. What are they about? I wondered. Are they hard-core road riders, intent on pushing themselves and competing wherever possible? Or are they more the 'stick it to the man' types, defying automobile convention and sticking their noses up at anything square? Something in between? I didn't even know which bike to ride. But, screw it, I thought. The first bar's not far away, I can scope them out, sit with them awhile, and make an excuse or just shade between bar 1 and 2 if it came to it. Be brave, little one! Go out in the world and be part of a story! So I did. I hopped on my bike with my new, gnarly lock slung over the bars and took off the three whole blocks to the meeting place. I was nervous, didn't know how I'd find anyone, and the bar staff hadn't heard of it (thought it was a great idea, though-I may have gotten my first recruit before I even met the group). I found them eventually and they were pretty much as the posting described: 20-30 somethings, musicians for the most part with supplemental jobs that were looking to widen their social circle and spread the joy of hanging out and riding. The musician thing was intimidating-I think they were a little too cool for me there, but they invited me back and I really think they meant it. A couple of the guys kept mentioning that I must think they were so lame, and were imagining what horrible things I would say to my friends when I got out of there. I didn't understand that, and told them as much-wondering why they thought I was a huge snob, and asked if I had a completely bored, snotty look on my face. Sure, I didn't know the people, but hanging out is hanging out-it's universally casual, no? I hope they got the message that it was a new, good experience-because it was.