Archive for the Meetup Group Category
Meetup Group
10. May 2008 by Orioles Fanatic.
It’s happening, it’s finally happening. (Again!) I was at a friend’s surprise birthday party tonight at a restaurant. As we were leaving I was talking to his family who is visiting from Maryland. I mentioned that I’m from Baltimore just at the moment when I was standing beside one of the waitresses, who excitedly exclaimed, “Me too!!” When I asked if she was an Os fan, she gave me a high-five. What’s more is that she actually joined my group.
I keep promising myself I won’t get my hopes up, but I can’t help it.
One day soon, I hope for both our sakes that you may finally be spared my endless lamentations about this meetup group. Please think good thoughts for me.
By the way, I have no idea what happened in tonight’s game. I recorded it but won’t have time to watch until tomorrow. I just had to share my good news before the inevitable disappointment when no one shows up at the next meeting.
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Charlotte Not Baseball Town
18. April 2008 by Orioles Fanatic.
I’m so silly. What was I thinking that I would go to a sports bar and it would be packed with baseball fans? Sometimes, I’m really not with it. No, there were barely any other people there and definitely no worries about Ys fans or any fans.
I’ll get the hang of living here eventually.
At least the dearth of members in my meetup group can’t be blamed on the Orioles.
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Orioles Meetup
18. April 2008 by Orioles Fanatic.
It’s an absolutely gorgeous day here, one of those days that you can’t help being in a cheerful and sunny mood. Let’s hope it stays that way…
Tonight the Os play the Ys, and wanting a little extra moral support, I’ve arranged for my meetup “group” to gather at a local bar. It’s a little risky to watch my Os in public where I’m supposed to remember, not to mention use my polite words, and we’re playing against most hated team. I fear three things:
1) The bar will be full of nasty Ys fans.
2) No other Os fans will show up.
3) The Os will lose and I will have to listen to a bunch of obnoxious Ys fans cheering all around me.
On the last count, I have another fear, that I may have to tell someone “BYA.” (My friend Jeff and I coined the term from this scene (2:33 minutes in) in Harlem Nights. Warning: Strong language!) Ys fans tend to have that effect on even a peace-loving person such as myself. Just seeing that cap makes you want to kick ‘em.
I’ve already predicted the sweep, so I guess I shouldn’t worry, and if someone has to get his ass kicked, so be it.
I’m just kidding, of course! Kinda.
Wish me luck that I don’t have to channel my inner Carrie Heffernen, and no restraining orders are issued against me. I have to go now to think of a mantra to repeat in case it’s a worst case scenario.
Happy Friday and Weekend!!
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Meetup Member
15. March 2008 by Orioles Fanatic.
Have you ever seen the movie, “The Jerk?” It’s been ages since I’ve seen it, but the one line that’s stuck with me through all these years is the one where Steve Martin’s character, Navin, I think, gets a phone and is delighted to see his own name listed in the phonebook. He exclaims excitedly, “Things are going to start happening for me now!” The next scene shows a man randomly picking Navin’s name out of the phonebook and then sniping at him from a hill adjacent to the gas station where Navin works. I realize my synopsis doesn’t do the scene justice, but if you’ve seen the movie, hopefully you remember what I’m talking about.
Whenever something good happens in my life, I think, just like Navin, “Things are going to start happening for me now!” Then I laugh to myself for my naivete and for setting my expectations too high. After all these years I should have learned by now to not set myself up for disappointment. After all, the “something” is most likely going to be a sniper.
As one example, when I had the idea to create the Orioles Meetup group, I thought I might finally meet some like-minded people who know about, not just the Orioles, but crabs, the Inner Harbor, the Smithsonian, and how talking politics isn’t grounds for ruining a friendship, because, after all, the Baltimore-D.C. region is the heartbeat of our political nation. Or maybe I’m wrong and it was just my circle of friends, which I won’t say more about just now because I don’t want to sound like I’m name-dropping.
With the Meetup Group, I was excited about the possibility for not feeling like a lone Orioles nut, but also for making friends who don’t invite you to dinner unless they really mean they want to invite you to dinner–something Southerners do, that for all their charm, I will never understand.
When no one showed any interest in the group, I admit I gave up hope for a little while there. Even the one dude who emailed me still hasn’t officially joined the group, so I’m not sure what to think about that. Tonight though, it happened. Someone else actually joined the group! I think it’s even another chick, too. Look at her meetup intro:
“Go O’s!!!! Born and raised in Baltimore - brothers were with the batboy club when they were younger, Camden is awesome, but Memorial will always be the field for me!”
Reading that, I could almost weep, “Memorial will always be the field for me!” Well, alright!!! A real fan. Live. In Charlotte.
I can barely breathe.
If this is a joke, it’s a cruel one and I will be crushed. Just to protect my emotional state, I’m going to operate under the premise that this is a Ys fan just being hateful until I have real proof that I’m not being punked.
Still, I can’t help myself thinking, “things are really going to start happening for me now.”
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Orioles Meetup
4. February 2008 by Orioles Fanatic.
Approaching life with renewed vigor after having Ken Singleton say my name, I decided that it was time to take action. Time to finally make real friends here in Charlotte. To that end, I created this Baltimore Orioles Meetup/Support Group. I figured it would be a lot of fun to meet other Os fans and have other people to watch the games with, plus give my husband a little relief during the baseball season. Tonight meetup.com sent out an automatic email message “to interested members in my area” publicizing my group. When I looked to see how many people the email went to, it was one, ONE person. A million and a half people in this area and there’s only one other person interested in the Baltimore Orioles. I paid $72 in the hopes of making new friends, and I will ultimately be the only lonely member.
Take a look at the number of members interested in a Red Sox meetup.
Sigh. Well, what’s one more hopeless endeavor in my life. I’m immune to it really. Rome wasn’t built in a day, I will persevere.
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