Sparse munch

I'm probably going to sound kind of negative about the munch on Saturday. If so, that's because several negative things happened. Some might say that I shouldn't talk about things like this in public if I ever want people to come to munches. Well, this weblog is for me to post my real thoughts in public, and I'm not going to censor it. I would like to think that people would appreciate honesty over everything else. I just hope you don't try to read between the lines and find things that aren't here, because I'm not writing between the lines.

We got six people at the munch. Now, one of those was my wife, who came because we had to be on the road that day for other errands, and it was easier (and, with gas prices, less expensive) for her to come to the munch than for me to drive her all the way home and come back. Lynnette was there too, and to be honest, part (though not all or even necessarily most) of the reason she comes is because her business has to do with ABs and DLs. She brought a friend of hers as well. The pessimistic conclusion is that, other than myself, two people came only because they wanted to come meet and talk to other AB/DLs. And one of them came right at the end (to be fair to him, he said that he had been having troubles in his life that he didn't specify, but I totally believe him). Not a very good turnout.

To make matters worse, Lynnette said that an AB who has come to many munches before (we'll call him A) may never be coming to another one. This is, she said, because he didn't feel included at the last one. She also said that another person (like me, he's from Bloomington, and I talk to him outside these munches; we'll call him B) had been talking to A about a picnic we're trying to have in June, and B made it sound as if we didn't really want to have the picnic because "we were trying to keep things centralized" (Lynnette's words -- they're third-hand, I know, and with you reading them that makes it a fourth-hand account). I know both these people, and I can and will send them email, and I also know that Lynnette has a tendency to make mountains out of molehills, but the point is that I don't have the energy or time for this. I may need to make it more clear that I am not the "leader" of this "organization," because it isn't an organization and I'm not leading. Sorry.

Lynnette also wants to stop being the one to deal with the auctions we have. I'm not going to explain them here; they're just an event that happens at parties when they are held, and Lynnette has been in charge of them in the past, and now she wants me to run them. But I don't have time, energy or money to do more than I do now, so I think they auctions may just cease to happen. I would much rather see something less organized happen, like people just bringing things to trade or sell. I don't think centralized authority is necessary, always or even usually.

No, I have no interest in being more than a facilitator; I just want people to know that I'm an AB and a DL and will be at Ryan's on Shadeland in Indy at 2 pm on the third Saturday of every month, and I invite other ABs and DLs, as well as other interested parties, to join me and meet each other. That's all. No complications.