Unhealthy social interaction? Check MeetIn...

http://www.meetin.org/city/MEETinDC/index.cfm?CFS=Yes

I'll admit, I have been to a few meetin events myself, and, as I was strictly in search of a fun afternoon/meeting potential new platonic friends, I had a decent time. But after a few conversations with some self-described "meetin junkies", I became less and less impressed, and wonder how healthy of an environment it really is.

Meetin leadership stresses (at least the Liberal YuppieLand chapter) that the group is militantly "anti-dating". It's great that it's not a meat market (or at least it claims not to be, I find it hard to believe that hooking up doesn't take place given many of the events seem centered around alcohol and partying), but the other extreme is not so great either.

Dating is arguably natural societal constructs - the couples/marriage/family unit has been dominant, all over the world, for millenia. People "clicking" and possibly falling in love is really just a natural outcome of being in social settings - it's the numbers game of the more people you meet, the more likely it is to happen to you. In other words, unless you and/or everyone you hang out with is majorly flawed, the more friends you have, the more likely it's gonna be that you'll at least get dates.

For one reason or another, we've all had times in our lives when we're single and NOT looking and there's nothing wrong with that. And there are the Samantha Joneses of the world who are the eternal bachelors and bachelorettes by choice and love their lives. But the vast majority of the single people I know are really pretty sad that they don't have a special someone in their lives. It's about a 25-75 split between "it's your fault you're single, you're too picky" and single for lack of other options, the latter being the larger group. Maybe that's why something like 90% of everybody over 18 in this country either is now, has been in the past, or will be in the future, married. Financially, professionally, physical-and-mental-health-wise, living longer, succumbing to STDs and cancers less often, less frequently the victims of violent crime - married people fare better across the board. You can't blame people for wanting that.

And why create an organization where people are discouraged from something so common? It's just unnatural. A group that strove to be a truly healthy and welcoming social environment wouldn't try to tell its members not to date one another if they wanted. They're adults! Get over it!