meetup group shutting down

[nospam99]

This is really just a footnote to the social changes that are swirling around us due to covid. But I thought it was worth mentioning anyway. As difficult as it has been and is likely to be for someone like me, 'in search of' an LTR, at least one of the available 'tools' is meetup.com. Well, I received an email overnight that one of my meetup groups is shutting down. Of particular interest to to me was the statement in the email:

''we will be back with our signature in-person programming as soon as the government sounds the all-clear, probably in 2021.''

2021? I'm not a 'torches and pitchforks' kind of guy. If I was, this environment, in which sincere people interested in socializing reach the point where they so much as consider the possibility that 'the government' will continue the bullshyt, would have me in the mob.

Edited June 12, 2020 by a LoveShack.org Moderator
Removed comment regarding forum category.

[QuietRiot]

21 minutes ago, nospam99 said:

This is really just a footnote to the social changes that are swirling around us due to covid. But I thought it was worth mentioning anyway. As difficult as it has been and is likely to be for someone like me, 'in search of' an LTR, at least one of the available 'tools' is meetup.com. Well, I received an email overnight that one of my meetup groups is shutting down. Of particular interest to to me was the statement in the email:

''we will be back with our signature in-person programming as soon as the government sounds the all-clear, probably in 2021.''

2021? I'm not a 'torches and pitchforks' kind of guy. If I was, this environment, in which sincere people interested in socializing reach the point where they so much as consider the possibility that 'the government' will continue the bullshyt, would have me in the mob.

I'm posting this in In Search Of rather than in Covid because, if I posted it there, it would just incite another flamewar about whether or not government mandated lockdowns are 'smart' under circumstances where no one has the f***ing virus.

Have you not considered simply checking out other Meetups?

 

Anyways, I had one Meetup do this already...but the organizer was barely holding Meetups even pre-covid. She got a new boyfriend, so she was spending time with him mostly. The meetup was fizzling anyhow.

Other Meetups in my area are kind of easing into it. The hiking ones especially.  Some or doing the ZOOM meeting thing.  I used to do Game Night with a Meetup, but the public venue is not allowing us in their restaurant any more due to Covid. So we are using online gaming as an alternative. 

 

[basil67]

I've suggested this before and I'll suggest it again: if you don't like how others run things, then run them yourself.

[nospam99]

@basil. Significant circumstances, including a local meetup group shutting down and explicitly calling out ''as soon as the GOVERNMENT sounds the all-clear'', that I ''don't like'' flow from the way my STATE is run. I hope you can acknowledge that, realistically, I can can't run my state, if for no other reason than I am unelectable. As recently as 2018, my governor defeated a, to my mind, vastly superior candidate. I could leave my state, but only at significant loses, both financially and with respect to proximity to family. I could run the closing meetup group. But I would be subject to the same state-mandated restrictions that are preventing the group from functioning.

[QuietRiot]

2 minutes ago, nospam99 said:

@basil. Significant circumstances, including a local meetup group shutting down and explicitly calling out ''as soon as the GOVERNMENT sounds the all-clear'', that I ''don't like'' flow from the way my STATE is run. I hope you can acknowledge that, realistically, I can can't run my state, if for no other reason than I am unelectable. As recently as 2018, my governor defeated a, to my mind, vastly superior candidate. I could leave my state, but only at significant loses, both financially and with respect to proximity to family. I could run the closing meetup group. But I would be subject to the same state-mandated restrictions that are preventing the group from functioning.

 

Is Meetup not allowing in-person get togethers whatsoever? My state has entered phase 2 of re-opening. I am starting to see restaurant Meetups, which is rather disturbing. 30+ has RSVP'ed to be going. I even think that's too much for a restaurant gathering...even pre-covid

Edited June 12, 2020 by QuietRiot

[nospam99]

^^^ Meetup is not restricting anything. It is the state of New York. And this is, sadly, going off topic for In Search Of and becoming a covid discussion. But I will explain to clarify the distinction between a business, like Meetup, being restrictive versus the state.

Two examples that are not reported in the media and not specifically applicable to the other restrictions that caused the meetup group coordinator to CHOOSE to shut down:

State says restaurants can serve customers outside on tables. Restaurant says the state gave them a 17 step administrative process to follow to get a permit for outside service. Restaurant CHOOSES to wait for state to further lift restrictions.

State says salons may perform haircuts and other services. Salon says state gave them a 13 page document of regulations about what they must do to perform those services and they will lose money because of the expense of complying with the regs. Salon CHOOSES to open and lose money in an attempt to not totally lose all their loyal customers and in hopes that the regulations will 'someday' be at least partially lifted.

[Happy Lemming]

If I may "piggy back" on your initial post...

A lot of my girlfriend's activities have been shut down or are still closed, even though our governor lifted the "Stay at Home" order.  She had an "Art Class", "Over 55 Workout Class (at a local gym)" that are shut down and her local library is "pick up" only.

There is no browsing in the library, at all.  You order the book (you want to read) on-line, you pull up, pop your trunk and they put the book in and close the trunk.  When finished, you drop the book off in a drop slot, where it is isolated for 3 days before being re-shelved.

She also called her hair salon and there are all of these rules, at that particular hair salon.  She asked me if I would dye and trim her hair again, to which I gladly agreed.  

For the record, our state is seeing a HUGE spike in cases.  "Stay at home" was working, but now that its been lifted, hospitals are filling back up with Covid-19 cases. 

[QuietRiot]

2 minutes ago, Happy Lemming said:

If I may "piggy back" on your initial post...

A lot of my girlfriend's activities have been shut down or are still closed, even though our governor lifted the "Stay at Home" order.  She had an "Art Class", "Over 55 Workout Class (at a local gym)" that are shut down and her local library is "pick up" only.

There is no browsing in the library, at all.  You order the book (you want to read) on-line, you pull up, pop your trunk and they put the book in and close the trunk.  When finished, you drop the book off in a drop slot, where it is isolated for 3 days before being re-shelved.

She also called her hair salon and there are all of these rules, at that particular hair salon.  She asked me if I would dye and trim her hair again, to which I gladly agreed.  

For the record, our state is seeing a HUGE spike in cases.  "Stay at home" was working, but now that its been lifted, hospitals are filling back up with Covid-19 cases. 

The thing is, our state is being accused of the current data being non-representative. Like and the numbers are lower or not including non-residents or whatever. There's a major "the state is over/under-reporting" the info. That there are inaccuracies in the current dashboard, health department counts.

[Happy Lemming]

2 minutes ago, QuietRiot said:

 That there are inaccuracies in the current dashboard, health department counts.

I'm willing to concede the point that the numbers could be inaccurate, but our local hospitals are filling back up.  The hospital officials are stating that they are at 90% capacity. 

I can't dispute the number of Covid-19 patients in hospital ICU beds. Those are actual "human beings" in actual beds, no way to "fudge" the numbers or under report.

[Miss Spider]

Sorry to hear that. I live in a large city where we are almost to the 4th stage of 5 stages to return to normalcy.

[Ellener]

Sorry something you enjoyed is being closed. People don't generally see their social groups as essential so they won't bother so much maybe to get back out there.

Everything is re-opening with restrictions here except nursing homes, and new businesses springing up around me, but stuff like churches and social groups are still mostly online as the Covid numbers went up as was expected.

 

[QuietRiot]

Had this a** of an organizer that I was friends with on FB post a comment on one of my Corona Virus posts saying, "What is this Corona Virus" thing? I deleted the post, removed him from my friends list. ANd...I'll be leaving his Meetups.

What a POS.

[alphamale]

i run a meetup group that has been around since 2006.  we have done more than 750 events in that time

[nospam99]

^^^ Just curious, alpha, have covid restrictions affected the scheduling or activities of events for your meetup group? The one this topic is about is the only one that I'm in that has announced shutting down (so far). All my others have either stopped scheduling events or gone exclusively virtual. (That's a killer for my main reason to participate i.e. meeting women.)

Edited June 12, 2020 by nospam99

[elaine567]

7 hours ago, nospam99 said:

'we will be back with our signature in-person programming as soon as the government sounds the all-clear, probably in 2021.''

Because I guess the group is for "older" adults and no-one wants to take the risk of an older person getting infected, spreading it round the group with the potential that someone could actually  die.

[nospam99]

^^^ This is not a group for 'older' adults, there are no significant covid cases in the area, and there is no statement that even hints that risks have anything to do with it. This is all about government restrictions. This is (or was) a 'going out to eat' group and, as far as the eye can see, the ENTIRE state is going to have a 25% occupancy restriction on restaurants AND a masking requirement. You can argue those restrictions are justified for NYC and even for areas where many residents work in NYC. But New York is a big state and, by area, the vast proportion is not exposed to the hundreds of thousands of people who caught covid and (not so) coincidentally work in NYC.

Edited June 12, 2020 by nospam99

[Ellener]

Are there any more groups you could join up with until yours reopens @nospam99

I like my walking group but my arthropathy is too bad sometimes so I've been bobbing in and out with them for years, sometimes I haven't been for months, and filling the gaps with others.

[nospam99]

^^^ As I noted above ''All my others have either stopped scheduling events or gone exclusively virtual.'' That would be eight other groups: 3 hiking, 3 dancing, 2 Boomer socializing. There's at least one more 'going out to eat' group that exists. But it won't be able to do much under the state mandated restrictions. meetup.com itself has a banner reading ''For the health and safety of Meetup communities, we're advising that all events be hosted online in the coming weeks.'' So it remains to be seen to what extent and how soon meetup groups 'normalize'.

Edited June 12, 2020 by nospam99

[Ellener]

Have you tried the virtual? @nospam99

All our groups here still have that safety banner too.

I haven't been out to eat yet myself. 

[Miss Spider]

Virtual meetup may not be a bad idea, especially for the "at risk" or especially cautious people. Obviously, it will not be an activity like dancing/hiking etc. But there are some cool groups still doing meets around me, like film buffs etc. Actually, there was a guy on here who did a virtual blind date and thought it went well. Something to ponder.

[introverted1]

@nospam99 you need to move. I hear you on proximity to family, but the political climate in NY combined with lack of available women present a strong counter-argument.

[basil67]

10 hours ago, nospam99 said:

@basil. Significant circumstances, including a local meetup group shutting down and explicitly calling out ''as soon as the GOVERNMENT sounds the all-clear'', that I ''don't like'' flow from the way my STATE is run. I hope you can acknowledge that, realistically, I can can't run my state, if for no other reason than I am unelectable. As recently as 2018, my governor defeated a, to my mind, vastly superior candidate. I could leave my state, but only at significant loses, both financially and with respect to proximity to family. I could run the closing meetup group. But I would be subject to the same state-mandated restrictions that are preventing the group from functioning.

Whoops, I missed your point.  Sorry.   

But with all due respect, we've just been through similar social restrictions here - and we've done them so spectacularly well that our country is almost virus free.   Nobody likes missing out on the good stuff in life and it's particularly hard for those who live alone but we suck it up for the greater good.  People's lives are more important than my swimming, socialising, sewing classes or gym.  

Are you allowed to go for a run or walk with a friend yet?   Or can you meet someone you've met on an app?  

[nospam99]

@basil. No problem about missing my point :D Runs or walks with friends have been fine for weeks. I guess they are below 'critical mass' crowd size. I 'met' a woman on a site (app means phone to me). But we haven't met IRL because all the restaurants/diners/coffee shops are still closed and I wasn't about to suggest either's homes for a first in-person meeting.

Edited June 12, 2020 by nospam99

[mark clemson]

Not to be insensitive, but this strikes me as a first world problem.

[Ruby Slippers]

I feel ya - or I'm about to. I'm recently single again - yes, AGAIN - and while I'm pretty sure I'll remain single for the rest of the year, for healing, quarantine, and so on, I definitely don't just want to sit at home by myself.

I have a few friends who are single and living alone during this, have told me how hard it can be. One of them is far from family and hasn't had a hug in months. Ugh.

I'm thinking about things I want to do to keep my spirits up. Just took a nice long walk around the neighborhood, will go see my parents' for Father's Day next weekend, then maybe the next weekend I'll get out to my favorite swimming pool for a dip and some laps. 

A good friend told me today she's cleaned every single nook and cranny of her place top to bottom. I have a feeling I'll get on that soon. I also want to do some creative projects, maybe pull up the piano (keyboard) bench and start playing and maybe even writing again.