I keep putting this off but it’s been a week; so, in an effort to make SOME kind of post, I’ll write as much as I can, as quickly as I can.

The TL;DR about this event was that it was a good time, but I just personally couldn’t get into the vibe, which I’ll explain in a bit.

owo What’s This?

Murfreesfurs, the local furry management group held a potluck at a local park in town. They had games and prizes and food and everything you could think of. The last I’d heard, there was about 150+ people in attendance, which was pretty nice to know that there are quite a few fuzzballs that live within the area(-ish.)

Got to see Mir Dragon again, and met Pink who welcomed me as I walked up and delivered my contribution to the spread — “Stink Husky Pie” (because this event was ‘family-friendly’ and I couldn’t use the phrase “Sh*t Husky Pie”)

I also met Corvin, who came along with Mir to the event, and Cai Dragon who had been interested in saying hello since I joined the Telegram group after moving to Tennessee. We all hung around one table at the pavilion the event was being held at and chatted. Field Day-style games were held at one point, and at 4PM a group photo was taken because OMG. WE GOTTA CAPTURE THE NATURAL LIGHT.

I think Mir had a good time with the ball toss; third place or something; the scores for advancement were tight, I was told.

I stayed until 6PM when it was dark and definitely time to leave. I felt bad that I didn’t really say goodbye to anyone except Mir and Corvin who left at the same time as I did. As we were leaving, a game of flashlight tag was getting organized.

But… here’s the thing.

Despite having a decent time at the potluck, I just didn’t feel quite at home. Sure there were some nitpicks that didn’t really matter, like the dude in charge of music not really playing anything that was appealing to the general attendance or the severe lack of coordination with what to bring in terms of food and drink.

The biggest thing that was a turn-off for me: being a new person in an already established group, with no real easy way to assimilate and feel included.

I never know how to articulate this and not look like a shite-head, but I felt like I was back in the high school cafeteria trying to choose which lunch table to sit at, tray in hand and seeing everyone in their own little cliques pairing off. Having my own group to sit with helped, but I just couldn’t shake the ‘outsider’ feeling just like at the Bar Louie meet. I just felt kind of…space-case floating about.

And to be honest, I can hear people saying “Well Four, why didn’t you just go up and talk to people?” I didn’t because that’s not how I operate; and I’m just at the point where I’m plain tired, socially speaking. I just want folks who are interested in conversation to come up and introduce themselves; then the chatter can get going. Or having the host(s) of the event make introductions instead of just burying their heads completely in running the event.

Something I’d like to see happen…

I’m hoping that the local management will think about putting on smaller events, especially ones that cater to newbies; it’d be awesome to see a social mixer or something so that new folks can show up and put on a nametag and be recognized and make friends before having to jump into a 150+ person pool of individuals that may or may not be interested in making a new friend that day.

I’ll definitely go to another meet and keep trying to make friends with my broken set of social skills, because generally speaking furry events are fun, and being a furry is a part of me. I’d like to see more inroads made to help those that are new get brought into the fold and feel included.