Connecting Friend Groups

Last year, I forgot I had dinner plans when a friend from out of town visited NYC. I told my friends that I couldn’t make dinner because of this and my friends suggested I invite him to dinner instead. I’m glad I did - it gave everyone the chance to meet each other without having to decide who to hang out with.

Recently I watched a TikTok discussing the cultural differences between American and Mexican hospitality. In America, if someone is asked to hang out, they might say no due to other plans. In Mexico, however, the answer is typically to invite the person to join them instead. Socializing with a larger group, and mixing social groups, is more common in Mexico, whereas it’s less so in America.

When figuring out my plans for a day, my default was to pick one friend group over the other. But I want to start mixing social groups more often and inviting my friends to my plans. Living in NYC, I’ll often browse Instagram and see on a friends story that they’re visiting the city. When I had plans I chose not to reach out. I want to change this and start inviting them too.