I got this e-mail from Tracie, who's originally from Ohio and having trouble making friends here. She asks for suggestions. I'll offer some, but first her e-mail:
"My husband grew up in Vandalia, Ohio and I grew up in Tipp City, Ohio. We lived in Dallas, Texas for a year, but have made Charlotte our home for the last 7 years. We live in Harrisburg and like the others I read about, we too are still friendless after 7 years. We find that people are really friendly. You go out to lunch with people you work with. But when 5:00 hits, everyone goes their separate ways.
"We love living here, just wish we had friends. We don't have kids, so we don't meet other parents to be friends with. I've joked with people at work about placing an ad (online) on Craigslist for a friend and they just laugh at me. If you have any ideas, let us know."
OK, Tracie, here are some ideas. And, readers, if you have any thoughts on making friends here, please post them. Thanks.
1. Get to know your neighbors. If you still haven't met them or barely know them, think about hosting a grill-out or having neighbors over for cocktails. When new people move in, walk over and say hi, maybe drop off cookies or bottle of wine.
2. Join a church. If you already have a church, see if there are committees or groups within it that you would like to join. It's hard to meet people just on Sunday.
3. Don't discount those colleagues. That's how many of us meet a lot of our pals. Try to organize a regular -- weekly or monthly -- lunch outing or happy hour.
4. You aren't off base with your idea of looking online for friends. Try this: Go to Meetup.com and enter Charlotte and hobbies or personal interests (i.e. yoga, golf, pets, books, hiking, bowling -- whatever). You can find groups of people who do or discuss the things you are interested in.
5. Volunteer. Not up for a regular commitment? You can do a project at a time with Hands on Charlotte. More more info on the group, click here.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Friendless from Ohio
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20 comments:
no friends for 7 years? it's you, not them.
Don't tell them to join a church just to meet people. That is just lame, plastic, and perpetuates the antiquated notion that you have to be a religious nut to fit in here in the south.
My advice, get involved in something. There has to be something you’re interested in. There are a lot of political groups, gardening groups, book clubs, sports clubs, all sorts of volunteer organizations. How does anyone make friends anywhere? Try doing that here. It just might work.
Tracie I am from the Great COLUMBUS , OHIO home of the Buckeyes ; I have been here six years and my wife and I dont really have freinds; May I caution your freinds with wisdom because Many People are doing things they sould not be doing , thus the People looking at them start following you, VOILA' ther are more groupies down here like MASONS, EASTERN STAR , ELKS, Kiawanas, Columbus Knights ect..... the list goes on and on; I even met a swingers club that was real freindly but Those you have to watch out because" some try to break couples up to steal their goods" thats one swingers couples opinion. Many Churches have swingers in them to my shock as well as yours. Im kink of a private person and it doesnt bother me a lot.
Tracie if any Southerners get caught speakinh to you they get ostrasized from their culture so sometimes My Southern freinds , which are few, we talk on the phone or maybe go to an out of the way place; But they look at siding with the Yankee as a slap in their face; It seems jobs are thinning quick and they have been left out of the economy; But you see this is self preservation we are talking about. They look at their kids future and with all these People running in here well you can guess whats happening. Now WACHOVIA takes a powder on us ; Charlotte is in huge trouble and worse than the National scene unless there is a miracle. Im really fearful of this scenario because ,TRACIE, WACHOVIA had 20,000 employees and was the largest employer and Im holding my breath.
My advice TRACIE is get out while you have money and try ALABAMA they have four car plants and BANKS are out for now.
signed PETER PIPER
These comments are the most immature that I've ever read on a news site.
Tracie, join a group at meetup.com that you have an affinity too/for.
There are groups of people for just about anything here and you will be bound to find someone to talk to.
Heck, we can even hang out for the Ohio/MI game if you don't mind all of the blue :-)
Tracie - I've lived in and around Harrisburg most of my life and can understand your frustration as much of what is available in the town is directed toward families. I would like to invite you to check out our church - Harrisburg United Methodist (on Hwy 49 across from Lowes Food.) I will send Amy my email address and if you're interested in more information you can reach me directly.
Tracie, Do you or your husband play sports? I have made many wonderful friends over the years (a few from Ohio!) by joining Interlink sports leagues. There's everything from co-ed softball to flag football to kickball (which ANYONE can play). Go to interlink-charlotte.com for more info. Good luck!
Tracie-
you're not alone :)
I'm from Westerville (Cols., OH) and my husband is from Minneapolis. We moved here 2 years ago from Englewood, OH.
We had great luck meeting some cool people at the local dog parks through our yellow lab.
Now with a 16 month old daughter, I've made a wonderful circle of (real life) friends through an online mommy group.
no friends for 7 years? it's you, not them.
Loller. :)
www.gobacktoohio.com
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