The New Happy Hour

I’m sure I’m way behind everyone else on this band wagon, but I had my first Zoom Happy Hour on Saturday. It was so much fun! And it got me thinking…

How did it take a pandemic for these to be invented?

Maybe they were a thing in other circles. Circles I clearly wasn’t invited to or allowed to peek behind the curtain of. Circles that were far more evolved than my circles. My circle, singular. Me, okay? My circle is just me.

Look, being an introvert has its benefits. For example, I am perfectly content to stay home by myself for months on end with nothing but a know-it-all Old Lady Cat to keep me company. With all the time I spend thinking instead of talking, my Zombie Apocalypse plan is SOLID. And thanks to my introvert-fueled powers of observation I can read a room like nobody’s business, which made me very popular with my bosses.

But it also means that I will never, ever go out and find circles of people who do things like hold virtual Happy Hours. In order for me to be part of those circles, someone from that circle has to see me, take pity on me, and adopt me into their Friendship Zone. And if I never stick my head up, for fear of being noticed because my Inner Introvert says that would be just awful, how in the hell is anyone supposed to adopt me?

Welcome to the Circle of Despair, a different kind of circle of which I am a founding member. It’s sort of like the Pit of Despair from The Princess Bride but with fewer villains, giants or, sadly, pirates.

So how did I end up attending a Zoom Happy Hour? I got lucky. One of my Happy Hour girlfriends adopted me a long time ago (in a galaxy far, far away called law school) and refused to let me slink off into the shadows to disappear. Which means I get invited to lunches and brunches and happy hours with the other friends she’s adopted. Do I always go? No. The pull of the Introvert Force is strong and won’t let me go to all of them, but I go to enough of them that I can at least tell people that I have real friends and say it with a straight face.

But now that I can attend Happy Hours from the comfort and safety of my home?? COUNT ME IN, BEOTCHES!

I honestly don’t know how I haven’t held a virtual Happy Hour every single day since Saturday. Wait. That’s called Day Drinking and I do it by myself. Never mind.

Okay, wrapping up before this gets weird(er).

Tell me I’m not the only one completely enamored with virtual Happy Hours in these pandemic-fueled days? How are you guys staying connected to your friends (the real ones or the ones in your head, because this is a No Judgment Zone)? Are you finding keeping in touch more or less difficult now?

And most importantly, anyone else want to adopt me for Virtual Happy Hours? I think we could all use a few more of those in our lives.

Virtual cheers!