Storyville

If you ever find yourself in the wrong story, leave.
~Mo Willems

Eh, this might seem silly but….remember how I went to that ASL MeetUp thingie last week? I've been feeling embarrassed—afraid I'd, possibly, given offense. Why? Because I mebbe talked (signed) too much about music with the opera singer/teacher who was there. I promised myself that, at this week’s session, I’d not drive convos that others couldn’t relate to. That is, of the five of us there last week, two have been deaf since birth. The opera talk was just beyond inside baseball-ish type chatter—like talking up the merits of Phthalocyanine over Cobalt Blue to someone who's color blind.

To be fair (to me,) the music thread lasted for MAYBE 15 minutes tops out of the 90 minute event. I try to limit my inescapable doofusosity. Honest!

On the day prior to this week's get-together, the event organizer cancelled because I was the only one (besides himself) to sign up. I was a wee bit offended BUT thought, well, maybe that’s standard—three people or the gathering doesn’t gather.
Still, I stewed a bit, thinking, if the opera singer was the only one to attend, he’d sure as hell not have cancelled. It was pretty clear, to me anyway, that the dude had a BIG TIME crush on her. No, I didn’t want Artie to be all warm for my particular form—no, no, no, NEIN. I just wanted ASL practice and some interesting convo. One on one would've been grand...I'd imagined.

Oh well.

And then, a couple hours before the now called off affair’s kick off time, Judy, the singer, chimed in to say that she could come after all. BAM, the event was instantly back on! Except, in the time between the party's kiboshment and unkiboshment, I’d made other plans. Plus, I wasn't keen on playing third wheel to their flirt-fest.

Even though it was just the two of them, they met. Of course they did. There's no attendee minimum number after all.

I get it, really I do—these organized theme events are a way for folks to meet and get to know new potential life partners/sweethearts/hook-ups while doing mutually enjoyed activities. This is an alternative and/or adjunct to the Match.com type stuff. Understood. It can also be about making new friends and having fun with like minded folk.

The South Shore ASL MeetUp is just, it seems, the wrong story for me.  

I’m attending a completely different group tomorrow—Paint the Model. A figurative drawing/painting session. And I’m gonna go to an ASL MeetUp in Harvard Sq later this month. Maybe these will be more my kind of story.