I'm sure Las Vegas is thrilling if you're into gambling, bars, and strippers, but not being a fan of any of the above leaves me searching for interesting things to do. This is made a pressing concern by the fact that I need to be out of our hotel room during the days when Laura is asleep after work.
I'm interested in many of the shows in town, but the prices are insane.
Most of my hobbies require either people (D&D, board games) or equipment currently in storage in GR (computer games, painting minis). Of the two, I can more easily remedy the lack of people. Or rather, a person with properly developed social skills could more easily remedy the lack of people. How does one go about finding friends? All my existing friends are either very assertive, pushy people who found me, or are passive people connected to me through the aforementioned pushy people. ( I say "pushy" with love, pushy people.) So how do I find people without passively waiting for new pushy people to find me?
I made a sign. I backed it with cardboard and made a stand for it. I'm going to set it up next to me in coffee shops as friend-bait. It says:
Talk To Me
My name is Matthew
My wife and I are new in town
I'd like to meet new and interesting people, but am far too introverted to approach random strangers. Hence, this sign.
If you'd like to talk, please sit down and join me. I'm shy, but nice, and actually rather talkative if you get me started. I'm a bit nerdy, but mostly normal, this sign not withstanding.
Thank you for taking the time to read my strange sign.
Whether or not you sit down to talk, have a great day!
I'm still not starting conversations proactively, but I'm increasing the odds someone else will talk to me. Hopefully. Maybe I'm just establishing myself as one of the many crazies who wander the streets of Las Vegas. The first test run this afternoon was less than successful, but I'm going to blame that on location. I was in a Starbucks near our hotel, and the other customers were mostly Japanese businessmen and retired tourists. Nobody under 40. Once I find a good coffee shop, I'm optimistic that someone will take the bait.
Until then, I'm getting a lot of reading done, and making progress on outlining my book.
-Matthew
You probably know about this website already, but have you tried meetup.com? You can find people in your general locale and join groups interested in things you're interested in.
ReplyDeleteI'm fairly certain they have Board Gaming groups in Las Vegas, as well as other options. I've found it particularly fun and useful to try and find knitting circles. If you haven't already, give it a shot! :)
You're not nuts. Either that or we're both nuts as I've considered doing the exact thing you've done.
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