I seek validation! Responses along the lines of "that bitch!" and "of course you were right" are greatly appreciated.
Posted by
Mop (aka rburriel)
Jul 17 '15, 13:24
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As some of you may know, I run a group on Meetup.com wherein we organize events and people participate. It could be bar trivia, board games, a movie, or a trip to the beach to go surfing. As organizer, the fees are my responsibility. But anyone can organize an event.
In May someone organized an event to go to the beach and go surfing. She recommended a certain surf shop and had done her research. She had a quote on equipment rental and lessons. She selected a date in June. Some people RSVP'd. As the event neared, it was rescheduled for July. In the meantime, more people RSVP'd. There were discussions about car sharing, participating but not surfing, etc. Yet communication from the organizer was lacking.
Finally, I saw that the date in July was nearing. And as the date nears, more people notice and RSVP. I posted something to the effect of "OK, it looks like this is gonna happen! Let's do this!" I was very excited.
After which, she lost her ever-fucking-loving-mind.
I corresponded with her calmly and the discussion was something along the lines of my interfering with her event, that I had no business saying that "it was on" and we were "doing this" and why do I feel I have to control things. She was going to have no part in this event or with the group whatsoever.
My view is that (although I didn't say it so bluntly), this is "my" group. And as my group, I am responsible for it. I derive little pleasure from this group but I do get a great deal a stress from it. If anything, my pleasure comes from pulling off a well run gathering. It's up to me that make sure that we follow through on events and things are planned properly. We get a lot of new people showing up all the time, and their first reaction can't be that "this group is shit." If you organize an event, you have to follow through or I have to intervene. A failed event reflects poorly not on the slacker who screwed the pooch, but on the group itself and on *ME*. But more than that, I wasn't *taking over* this event. All I was saying was that it appeared the event was nearly upon us. I only took over when she lost her shit and bailed. I can only imagine that she had no intention of following through with the July date and was going to postpone again, and got caught off guard when I said that yeah, this is happening.
I'm not one for conflict and I don't like it when people don't like me, but sometimes I can't help it. Without her, the event proceeded. I made arrangements with the surf shop, pre-paid for the group's rental equipment and lessons. Last weekend, we all went to the beach and had a great time. A huge group turned out. It was very successful due largely in part because it was well organized. Everyone said how glad they were that we did this and how grateful they were that I had organized this.
Still, it bugs me that she got angry at me.
Mop
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