I’m not sure if this is the right community, but just wanted to spark discussion and I love hearing people’s different experiences
Inspired to ask because elsewhere I was telling a story about how I got invited to poker night at Jehovah’s Witnesses one time, and none of it made any sense to me. First of all we were not supposed to be having a party and listening to music, nor gambling, nor drinking according to the rules of JW which were outwardly acknowledged.
But they had come up with all kinds of outs and justifications, and minor rule bendings to justify basically doing all of that. I’m sitting there like thanks for including me guys but this is just a weird scene.
You’re all running off to the laundry room to make alcoholic drinks and coming back to mutually joke about how ya merely went to freshen your Kool-Aid. It was very mentally taxing
I have social anxiety and some kind of high-functioning AuDHD going on. That makes most social events weird and baffling to me to be fair.
But since you want stories here’s a couple that are short and sweet if a bit loosey goosey on the social element:
One time on a bus, late at night, a very drunk individual was encouraging conversation (if only because most of the other passengers weren’t sure what he would do if we didn’t respond). He was drinking something simultaneously black and cloudy out of a plastic bottle and offering people swigs. People didn’t go that far into joining in, hence weird rather than actually scary. I may have said “no thanks I’m not sure what that is”, and thankfully he took it well.
Another time, as a kid with family on holiday somewhere. I forget exactly where. A shop in a high street with windows all covered with special offers and an opening time that was pretty soon. We think: “Why not?”. A crowd had gathered by the opening time. The doors opened. The crowd flooded in with us fairly near the front.
The shop was completely empty save for a few guys in suits in formation at the back, and one by the door who’d opened them. Sleazy sales types, maybe religious types. It was hard to be sure, but clearly some kind of bait and switch. Thus began a wave of people trying to get out as the back of the crowd was still trying to get in.