Buy Or Don’t Buy

Who said face-to-facing people you meet online is a bad idea? Meetup’s mission is to draw like-minded people out from under the dark cover of cyberspace and into real-time friends and colleagues. So people create profiles, search for groups they are interested in, and make dates to meet at the steps near the B. Dalton at the local Westfield mall (across from the Auntie Annie’s). Those interested in playing polo on Segways can request a Polo on Segways group, and when enough interest is garnered in one area, one responsible user will click “start group” and the magic may or may not begin.

N.B.: you can make your own nametags when you get there.

My roommate and I heard about a recent Club UK-NYC meeting through a friend of a friend whose coworker’s boss is in Meetup’s Club UK-Philly. A trail of Union Jacks led us through a maze of hallways until we were spilled into a back room at Crash Mansion. A DJ pressed play to a ton of hits from Bon Jovi to Coldplay to Lil Jon, all of which are really popular in London right now. A toothy lady with a camera around her neck greeted us and introduced herself as the moderator. She looked concerned, saying she didn’t recognize our profiles, but snapped our picture and led us toward the four dollar drinks and nametags nonetheless.

The dance floor needed help; we were on it, rekindling the fires of change via wobbling knees and face slapping. The event could have passed as a regular bar for its swanky booths, low lighting, and, well, bar, but one standout difference made Club UK just this posh: everyone had come alone. I had finally met all my peers who go to bars alone in one fell swoop of mini Union Jacks, discarded cherry stems and that blissful three minute period where the DJ chose a New Order song (more popular in Northern England).

No, we didn’t both find British boyfriends that night, as most everyone had American accents. But I left with something I didn’t even know I was looking for: community for an hour and a half. And tell me community is not something you wouldn’t buy.