Okay so last week I decided to finally try those “Just Us” social meetups everyone’s been hyping up. Grabbed my buddy Steve – that guy never says no to anything – and signed us up for the Tuesday night event. Honestly had zero clue what to expect but figured why not.
Getting Our Feet Wet
Rolled up to this community center downtown right after work. Place looked kinda dead outside but inside? Packed! Like thirty people crammed into one room with beanbags and weird art everywhere. Host lady handed us nametags saying “DON’T BE STRANGERS” in huge letters. Steve immediately messed his up and wrote “Steeve” as a joke.
Kicked things off with this icebreaker where we had to find people with matching puzzle pieces. Found this college kid holding my half – turns out we both hated pineapple pizza and owned weirdly specific black socks. Steve just wandered around asking folks if they’d seen his imaginary cat.
The Messy Middle Part
Then came the main event: collaborative mural painting. Total chaos. We got handed paint tubes and told “express positive feelings about Mondays”. Worst idea ever right? But people went nuts:
- Some dude painted coffee mugs with smiley faces
- Steve did this awful dinosaur eating a calendar
- My section accidentally became a giant orange blob
Halfway through, the host cranked up cheesy 80s music. Everyone started dancing while painting – shoes covered in blue splotches, one girl painted stripes on Steve’s arm. Didn’t even realize we’d spent two hours like that until my phone buzzed.
Why This Sticks With People
Walking home smelling like acrylics, Steve kept ranting: “That was stupid! When’s the next one?” Exactly. Realized three things:
First, nobody cares if you suck at stuff. My orange blob got compliments! Second, forced silliness works. Making grown adults paint happy Mondays breaks down all that “too cool” crap. Third, it sneaks in real connections – already made plans with puzzle-piece kid for coffee.
Woke up Wednesday with paint under my nails and zero regrets. Would trade fancy dinner parties for awkward community center painting any week. Steve’s already signed us up for “Bad Karaoke Thursdays”. Send help.
