Cloture Girl: Questions from a Recent Grad and Office Love

Dear ClotureGirl -

I’m a recent graduate from VCU, and coming back to my home (Fairfax) has been a difficult transition, where is the best place to meet other young professionals in the same boat as me?

Dear Graduate,

To fully appreciate my advice, you are going to need to be the kind of person that is motivated to get up off the couch. If you aren’t that outgoing or energetic, chug a 4Loko and pretend to be a social butterfly long enough to put yourself out there and try something new.

Join a recreation league!

My granddad always used to swear that ping-pong was THE way to meet great guys. I was 10 and I practiced myself to tears. I may have a great topspin now, but I’m still single. While the days of ping-pong leagues have passed, the idea was solid. If you enjoy a sport, chances are there is a DC area league for other people who enjoy that sport too. This advice applies more during the spring, summer and fall months, but I know at least a few of them do winter indoor sports. Don’t worry about your skill level; there is usually a healthy mix of novices and veterans on every team. There are several kickball, softball, skeeball, bocce, and bowling leagues full of young professionals just like you that sweat through some minor “athletics” and then go out for a pint after. If you are more ambitious, football, rugby, and soccer leagues will offer you a truer workout before that pint. My goodness, there is even a DC ski club: http://www.scwdc.org/! When choosing a team, be sure to ask the organizer how socially active their team is. Some teams go out together more often than others. On Tap Magazine has a great list of leagues online here http://www.ontaponline.com/2010/08/sports/time-to-get-off-the-couch/. There is even a Fairfax area league, but with the Vienna/Fairfax metro station right there I wouldn’t hesitate to get out into the city on a regular basis. Team practices and games are a good motivator if you need that extra push to get out of the house and onto the metro.

Stay connected!

Your school’s alumni association keeps track of where you are. Look up whether your school has a strong DC metro area alumni presence. They may even have their own recreation league or social events calendar.

Volunteer!

Selflessly giving your time to a worthy cause sometimes has the happily selfish side-effect of connecting you with some truly amazing people. Everyone wants a friend that is there for them through thick and thin. Well, the people you meet volunteering are the kinds of people who would help complete strangers when they are down-and-out. A quick google search of “volunteer washington dc” gave me the http://www.volunteermatch.org/ webpage which even had a link to a Fairfax organization http://www.volunteerfairfax.org/. Hmmm, I think I might try to meet my future doctor husband by volunteering at Georgetown University Hospital http://www.georgetownuniversityhospital.org/body.cfm?id=1067. Speaking of future husbands, this is an interesting premise for a volunteering organization: http://svdc.org/.

Get a job!

Now I know you just graduated with that great degree and the world is your oyster. But I’m not talking about the obvious job in an office with its suit & tie drones. No. You came to me asking how you could meet people in the DC metro area. Two words: service industry. Wait! Hear me out. I know this is the most controversial option that I have presented thus far, but I speak from experience. I have two jobs; one requires a suit and the other requires an apron. Where do I meet more people? Yeah. And the extra cash doesn’t hurt either. Go for a social pub or a country club. Pick a place where you would want to hang out and chances are you’ll meet people you want to hang out with. Plus, if you like the place you work, you know you’ll make use of your employee discount

Go online!

Your question is a common enough question in this area that several web-based organizations have risen to fill the social networking demands of the DC metro area young professional. In addition to the events pages of our own Cloture Club website, try checking out events on the following web pages: http://www.meetup.com/find/ ; http://meetin.org/ ; http://www.thingstododc.com/ ; http://www.prosinthecity.com/dcevents.php ; http://washington.netparty.com/events ; http://www.ypfp.org/ ; http://www.ypenergy.org/ ; http://www.ynpn.org/s/936/start.aspx ; http://www.dchappyhours.com/.

I hope this is a help!
- ClotureGirl

Dear Cloture Girl,

I have a crush on this guy in my office. His name is [redacted]. How do I approach him? Do you think when we have our office holiday party I should try to get him drunk so he wants me?

Sincerely,
Desperate Democrat

Dear Desperate Democrat,

Office romances are a tough sell for me to support. Crushes are fickle, too. Is this a Jim & Pam kind of crush or is it more along the lines of you wanting to get frisky with this guy, and if it happens once and only once you are OK with it? Either way, I’m not sure that getting him drunk at your holiday party is the best course of action unless you’re both about to unemployed in January. (If that’s the case, we have great job postings here on ClotureClub.com) Keep in mind that, if you pursue this and are successful, your life in the office just got 100% more awkward. You’re either the gal that got drunk and hooked up with at the holiday party, or you’re the awkward relationship couple (if that lasts).

I’d pursue a little bit more of a sustainable path to approaching this, rather than tilting things in your favor at a holiday party. The hill may seem a lot like college, but I’ve found it’s best to leave college-era tactics in college.
Best,

Cloture Girl

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