# went to an SA meetup



## orchdorch925 (Aug 26, 2010)

And it went well! There were 7 of us and we all kinda talked in pairs, but it was good. We all kinda overcame our nervousness to talk to each other. I liked it and I look forward to it again!


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## Prodigal Son (Dec 11, 2005)

Nice! How long did the meetup last? Kind of jealous of you guys who have active support groups in your area.


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## JimmyDeansRetartedCousin (Nov 28, 2009)

Sounds sweet!


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## Black_Widow (May 23, 2008)

Well done Orchdorch925! Glad to hear that it went well.


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## RockIt (Jan 8, 2011)

Great job! You deserve this!!!

When I was in Pittsburgh, they had a great SA meetup group. I looked forward to that also. Now that we made the move to Columbus, I don't see any on there. So, I might have to start one and hope that someone with some better organizational skills steps up to help out.


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## orchdorch925 (Aug 26, 2010)

Prodigal Son said:


> How long did the meetup last? Kind of jealous of you guys who have active support groups in your area.


I stayed for about an hour, I had to leave early to meet with my family. And it is really nice. I actually started an SA group, then 2 others popped up right afterwards. I might get rid of my group, I dunno....


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## Soul Of The Wolf (Jan 6, 2011)

Good to see that you had the chance to get out and talk. First steps are always important, and common issues/interests tend to help the group mesh together better.

Soul


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## hafig (Jan 11, 2011)

Any meet up groups in Miami Florida of SA.


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## Dub16 (Feb 28, 2010)

well done!

SA Meet-Ups are a great idea imo. (unless ya end up with a load of drunken irish folk in yer hoose knockin over yer ash-tray and wreckin yer gaff and talkin in country accents)


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## hafig (Jan 11, 2011)

I wish there was an SA meet up in Miami to go to! I need it.


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## Dub16 (Feb 28, 2010)

hafig said:


> I wish there was an SA meet up in Miami to go to! I need it.


Ya could start a thread aboot it in the "gatherings" section and see whos up fer it.

Its a great thing ta do, i hope it works oot fer yee


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## millenniumman75 (Feb 4, 2005)

Pretty nice!


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## kerosene (Oct 26, 2010)

Hahahaha awesome. When you get a bunch of SA's together do you all just sort of lose your anxiety gradually...? I don't know what it would be like to have a meetup.


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## Perfectionist (Mar 19, 2004)

Wheee way to go! I went to one recently too and I'm really glad I did.


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

Meeting others from SAS is nice, though very hard to manage.

I've been on this board for 8 years and in that time have met a grand total of only 5 other members. Met 4 as a group back in July 2006, a meeting that lasted for over 6 hours.

Met one woman from SAS back in 2008-2009 numerous times, with her being the only SAS member to personally see the inside of my home.

The other year a woman in Madison was trying to organize a meeting in Milwaukee, Madison or anywhere in between. She gave up, finding it an impossible task. It's not like SA is some rarity and Milwaukee isn't exactly a tiny city, though getting SAS members to a meeting is not at all easy given that they have SA.

A SAS member invited me to meet in Indiana, though I refused the offer due to fear of driving that far and SA in general. Currently, the plan is the meet sometime unspecified.

Another SAS member thought we could meet in the spring. Driving over 5 hours each way is certainly out of my comfort zone, but he does have a really nice collection of firearms to tempt me. Not sure if even the chance to play with "assault rifles" and other toys for big boys is strong enough a force to move me that far.


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## Kuyaz (Aug 2, 2009)

I would love to go to one of these if they ever happen in my area.


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## facade047 (Aug 2, 2010)

Well done!! taking the first leap is always the hardest. I went to my first meet up a few months ago now and it was great to finally go and meet others like me. I do look forward to them now (sort of) it's kind of like a wierd mix of relief/anxiety/dread, sometimes. Guess you can't change the habbit of a lifetime in just a few months, but it feels good knowing that i'm making progress, even if it's only a little...


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## purplefruit (Jan 11, 2011)

kerosene said:


> Hahahaha awesome. When you get a bunch of SA's together do you all just sort of lose your anxiety gradually...? I don't know what it would be like to have a meetup.


Yeah lol. I've been to a couple SA meetups, no one really seemed weird. My favourite group (they don't together often enough, arghhh) is a group of ladies, we discussed that it's easier to be social with SAs because you don't really feel like you're being judged or that people think "wow that person's weird". I went to another SA meetup once which was more of a support group, no one there really seemed anxious at all except for one girl who was obviously struggling and left before the speaking started up.

I still find it hard to socialize with _anyone_ but it's at least a smidgen easier with SAs.


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## ryobi (Jan 13, 2009)

I wish there was one in my area too but I'm sure I would probably be too afraid to go-lol


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## RockIt (Jan 8, 2011)

Eliza said:


> Yeah lol. I've been to a couple SA meetups, no one really seemed weird. My favourite group (they don't together often enough, arghhh) is a group of ladies, *we discussed that it's easier to be social with SAs because you don't really feel like you're being judged or that people think "wow that person's weird".* I went to another SA meetup once which was more of a support group, no one there really seemed anxious at all except for one girl who was obviously struggling and left before the speaking started up.
> 
> I still find it hard to socialize with _anyone_ but it's at least a smidgen easier with SAs.


I fully agree. People don't judge you there and they realize that everyone in attendance is working on their issues. There have been a few that I have been to including playing pool for a few hours and going on a walking trail.

I remember there was one girl there who didn't want her picture taken, so they edited her out of the photos before posting them online. The group leaders completely understood and they had no problem accommodating her request.


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## ryobi (Jan 13, 2009)

cool!


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