Ah, the moms' clubs.... endure life alone with a two-foot little man for long enough and you are bound to eventually want to spend some time among adults just like you. So, you check out the local moms' groups. Seems easy, right? It should just be a matter of,
"Hey, where are your meetings? Can I come?"
HA! No such luck.
After some digging, I located a NE Columbia group. The head momma was very good about returning my emails, and I gave her all the pertinent info about myself and my kiddo (no worries - she didn't ask for my SSN). After a week of going back and forth, as I anxiously awaited the coveted moms' group calendar that would be my ticket to rare, fleeting moments among adults, I got this weird, one-sentence email that read,
"I am sorry to inform you that you are located in the Columbia North area, not Columbia NE."
Done. No club for me. Guess I live on the wrong side of the tracks. And they say segregation is dead? From my small amount of time in the South, I have learned and can promise you that it indeed exists on many levels (ah - the subject of a future post).
OK, fine. I looked things up again, found the NORTH head momma's email and sent along the same profile schpeel. This email was returned to me because her mailbox was full. Aargh. Just somebody let me join your club, woudja?
I was astonished that these moms' groups found themselves so elite. In fact, I was just talking to a friend who lived in Morgantown all her life and just recently moved to another town. She tried to get in on one of the Morgantown moms' clubs and they wouldn't let her play, either, because of her new town (20 minutes away, mind you). Oh, the humanity!
This story does have a happy ending... just two days ago, I discovered the ingenious site Meetup.com, which includes pleasant, welcoming folks planning things for any type of club you could wish for, pretty much anywhere in the US. The calendar is very organized and diverse. In fact, Andrew and I are off to our first "meetup" this morning - the Columbia Museum of Art. Hope we're cool enough. I'll keep you "posted."
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