Guys Night Out?

With it being the start of a new semester, I figured it would be good to "go out of my way" to be extra-social and get to know people. So when two girls from the ward stopped by last Saturday night to invite us over to play games, I figured I should go. Attila and Genghis were both at wedding receptions, but Alex had about 30 minutes before he was leaving, so agreed to accompany me. When we first arrived at the apartment, there were 2 girls and 3 guys; we made it 2 girls and 5 guys, which is not unreasonably noteworthy in and of itself. However, little by little, more and more people showed up as there seemed to be a knock at the door every 5 minutes. In would walk 2 more guys, then 1 more guy, and once, there was even 4 more guys! Not a single girl showed up. "We invited other girls--honest!" was the plea from our kind hostesses. Really? Did you really now? I took a step back from the whole scene and realized that there were about 16 guys there and 2 girls. Well every guy was thinking the same thing, I could likewise read the thoughts of the two girls: could this get any better? In my innocence, I was merely trying to be social. The consequences? I joined in with 15 other dudes in a completely socially awkward display of desparate guys looking to hang with some ladies on a Saturday night. I kept wondering at what point I should leave and how I would be able to do without making it completely obvious why I was leaving. Everytime I was tempted to stand up, another guy beat me to it. They didn't have to make an excuse as to why they were leaving; everyone in the room knew why, and as they were the envy of the rest of us as they walked out the doorway in search of a separate social event where the girls were in abundance as opposed to scarcity. The ratio was down to about 10:2 when I noticed Attila and Genghis walking up the stairs. No! Turn back! Save yourselves! I wanted to save them before it was too late, but alas, another knock at the door. As they sat down, our eyes met, and I knew that they knew exactly what was going on. The three of us shrugged it off, kept playing the game, and decided to make the most of it. As chance would have it, the guys kept leaving, so by the end of the evening, there were only 4 boys left and 3 girls (one of the roommates came home). We ended up staying until curfew talking and playing the "Would you rather . . . " game, and it was actually a lot of fun. The blessings of patience or the tender mercies of the Lord? I'll let you be the judge on that one.

-Leon