There was a time when this is what it looked like making plans for a weekend night.  No cell phones, no group texts, no websites to check out a destination.

If you were young and going out on a weekend evening, you had a network in your mind that you would begin calling.  Someone would have to start the plans, and get the message out.  You wouldn’t get people at home, they’d be out, maybe working, so you leave a message with their mom or brother, or sister, never count on a dad to pass a message about going out!  And sometimes you wouldn’t trust a younger sister, either… You’d call back later to make sure the message was getting out. Then you’d move on.   I remember I had a small little address book, but mostly you relied on memory, and knowing how to extend the network beyond the first few people you call.  You call Dave, he calls John, and maybe Mark.  Then you’d know that John and Mark would call Susie and Cathy, and on and on.  Sometimes you’d get together with as many as fifteen people or more.

Then there was arriving.  You’d get to the location and find that it closed!  Whoever got there first would have to wait for a couple more to arrive to figure out where to go from there. Someone would have to wait in the parking lot for stragglers to pass the message.

Amazing, we figured this out, and made it work.  Don’t know who I was talking to, but quite sure I was reaching out to the network for party planning… somehow it was all worth it!