For most of my life I have avoided clubs and extracurricular activities. I was always more comfortable hanging out by myself or with one other person than as part of a group. I also hated being committed to stuff, because I like having the flexibility of taking a nap if I need a nap. When I was a kid I guess I played on a few sports teams. I was even on swim team for a time in 5th grade, but mostly for the Rice Krispy Treats and single serving Twizzlers that the concession stand sold at Saturday meets. Then my friend Caroline and I started skipping swim practice. Instead of doing laps, we’d walk around town hiding from our parents and neighbors before dousing our hair and our bathing suits in the YMCA locker room sinks. But for many years I didn’t participate in any after-school activities. In college a few of my friends started a club called SEED – The Society for Eastern European Decadence. We sat around and talked about The Unbearable Lightness of Being and drank wine spritzers, always a little tongue-in-cheek (I hope), but the club dissolved the night that we invited the boys to play Truth or Dare and some shirts came off. Then I just retired altogether from group activities. Even holding a job was hard for me. It was always too much like Office Club or The Secretarys’ Alliance. However for the past few months I have been involved in a writing group that I LOVE. I always felt too introverted and embarrassed to join one of these, but now I find myself interrupting the other members to say what I think of an original story. And it helps me open up that we typically have wine and cookies at our meetings. This workshop group combines my great loves – words and sweets. And it just doesn’t bother me anymore that being in a club is totally gay.
So even if you think you are incorrigibly shy or socially awkward or if you just don’t like people, I think there is a group out there for you. Dominic, you can find a club made up of people who like to listen to obscure music alone for hours, and then put their playlists on the internet. Willis, you can join a gang of people who like to giggle at America’s Funniest Home Videos. Jennifer, you already have too many extracurricular activities. And Darren has joined a club of computer nerds who like to play soccer and go to happy hour at French restaurants. There is a community for everyone. So get off your computer, get on Craigslist, and start your own club. You can even have a clubhouse and a secret password. You can even make t-shirts and make fun of non-members. You can even give out cheap trophies for attendance and hang out at Pizza Hut on Saturday afternoons.