Three Plus is a Crowd

There's a reason someone came up with the phrase "Three's a crowd"--possibly because, well, it can be. I've never been able to wrap my head--or tastes, perhaps--around certain practices when it comes to getting together with friends. When I think of comfortable reunions with friends or small gatherings, I tend to envision hanging out, maybe over coffee, with my friend to chat and catch up one on one. If a few of us decide to hang out, thhttp://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=4672213590103447155at's also fine, as long as those involved already know each other, and preferably if we all share established friendships. What I can't seem to get are those friends of mine who, when they bounce into town for a quick visit before jetting off to wherever they're living, try to reunite every possible friend in their address book that still lives in the area. Mind you, that's super convenient because you're hitting about ten birds with one stone, but it can result in a gathering that's terribly awkward and what's even worse--boring as all hell.

One particular friend of mine has an awful habit of doing this. She's friends with many people and does a fairly good job of keeping in touch with all of them. Of this group, however, none of us are in contact with each other, and I think we're just fine with that. So, when my friend decided to do a coffee outing with 8-10 of her random assortment of friends, it ended up being quite a dull event in which everyone vied for her attention and then turned to rely on whomever they came with for idle chatter while my friend was occupied with others in the group. Now, if this were a party setting, perhaps it would be slightly more acceptable to be thrown in with a bunch of strangers, since sometimes that's what a party is all about. But when I think of coffee talk, I don't think of lumping all my friends together in one place so I can claim I saw and talked to all of them, almost reminiscent of a speed dating event.

Different strokes for different folks, I suppose, is the only conclusion that comes to mind when trying to understand why my friend's style and my own are so different. And by different strokes for different folks, I mean our personalities and styles are completely different--and you know what? That's just fine by me.