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Weekend Assignment #317: Merry Meetings


People used to socialize with each other on street corners, at cocktail parties, at club meetings, and in a later era, at shopping malls. These days, however, we seem to do most of our socializing online. Where do you go most often for face time with friends and acquaintances?


Extra Credit: Do you ever hang out with co-workers after hours?

Mostly, my friends gather in someone’s home. Just today, I had some friends over for a Book Club date at my house. My friend Noah hosts a Game Day Open House on a Saturday every couple of months. There is always somebody having a barbecue on a three-day weekend.

Now that I am thinking about it, I realize that since we are grownups that don’t live in dorms or with three roommates, we spend much less money on going out to dinner. And going out to movies. And bars.

The time of day that we meet has changed a lot, too. I meet friends for lunch, not for dinner. Sometimes we have an afternoon that drifts into ordering dinner, but that isn’t the same thing. If you have a group of eight people that has five or six hours of conversation to get to… well, I’m just too old to start with drinks at seven.

Generally, I don’t socialize with co-workers outside the office. It is partially that I work in HR, so it becomes awkward. But also, my life is rather compartmentalized between work and family and volunteering and other friends. I don’t know that it’s healthy, but that’s the way it is.