Crunchy Without the Bite

Got an email a couple of nights ago, from (Former) Roommate Amy (not to be confused with me) inviting me to a party at an independent bookstore with promises of "leftist party games" and "great dumpster dive food from Trader Joe's!" No one I talked to had ever heard of the place. In fact, the only one that knew anything was a friend of Amy's. And she had only met the person who invited her once the week before. Shady? Just a bit.

Yet, though the whole setup sounded deliciously sketch, like a potential hilarity goldmine, in actuality, the party was incredibly tame. Almost disappointingly so. The bookstore was well-lit. The food (mostly fruit, crackers, and cheese... these are upscale dumpster divers) did not smell of trash. And the leftist party games? Equally as lame as usual party games. Instead of "psychiatrist," they played "activist," in which the It had to guess what social issue he/she was advocating. The anarchists were all very sweet and earnest about how right they were and how evil capitalism was it was almost of cute. I sure won't be bff'ing any of them anytime soon or attending any more parties, but I had a nice time. Those folks last night reminded me of Eddie Bert and some of the kids I met there. They had that same innocent earnest and unwillingness to fit in.

(discussing the party beforehand)
Moi: I don't know what to bring for this potluck. I don't have any vegan food. I just have non-organic things I bought by participating in this capitalistic economy.

Amy: Well, the Band Man is a radical activist and he's not sketchy. He eats meat. Maybe they'll be like that.

Moi: Maybe he'll be at the party!

(He wasn't. Though we rated everything on a Band Man scale last night- are these kids nerdier than the Band Man? More awkward? More militant? Have the ladies that worked with the Mexico Solidarity Network heard of our great radical leader? ...He really should have shown up at the party.)

(discussing the party afterward)

Amy: See, they weren't so bad. Nobody was pretentious or obnoxious. In fact, they were all sort of nerdy...

Moi: Yeah, I definitely felt like I was cooler than most of them.