[jamaicabound]

I was just curious what your guys thoughts are on this issue. I'm sure we all remember the famous Seinfeld episode where Georges Fiance becomes friends with Elaine and Jerry and them. Now granted that's a bit different in that its your gf or in his case fiance joining the group but even in general do you invite different groups of friends to the same parties, events or activities?

I'ts always made me a bit uneasy, not really sure why I guess maybe I act a little different with different people and it kinds throws you off when you have them together, also its never fun if two groups don't get along and you wind up in the middle or having to mediate.

Just curious overall if you guys like bringing together different groups or if it's something you avoid?

[roberto]

For communal, mainstream events such as a barbie I'll invite anyone and everyone.

I would feel awkward discussing certain things that I discuss with one set of friends with another, but I think that's normal. For instance, if we're going to get stoned and talk red pill, that's one group only.

[jhicks56]

Mixing friend groups, if you're not a bore, is difficult. My friend groups don't mix well at all. Same reason why you don't bring your girl around your friends. She has her space with you and your friends have theirs with you as well.

[Sp5]

I used to love to do it back in college, invite my artist friends, my Army Reserve friends, my student newspaper friends, and my foreign student friends to the apartment.

[AneroidOcean]

One of the very important qualities of most of my friends is that they are respectful and pretty easy going. Because of this, I rarely get uneasy mixing my friend groups. In fact, I've had big parties where very diverse friend groups have mixed without any real issues.

I like it this way, I don't want to have to babysit/coddle my different friend groups or act as a mediator/translator.

Now women? I try to keep women away from my less socially savvy/nerdy friends, but otherwise it's not a big deal.

[Drazen]

For me, I don't really care if my friends get along with each other or not and I have no problem integrating them in whatever I do or inviting them when they come out. I'm inclusive with all, and I won't segment my friends. Worrying if they will "get along" to me, is something gossipy females worry about. To me, its more indicative of the person worried about someone "finding out" something about themselves. I have a few male friends that segment who they hang out with, and in most cases, its to limit exposure of themselves.

[jamaicabound]

(09-25-2014 05:00 PM)Drazen Wrote:  

For me, I don't really care if my friends get along with each other or not and I have no problem integrating them in whatever I do or inviting them when they come out. I'm inclusive with all, and I won't segment my friends. Worrying if they will "get along" to me, is something gossipy females worry about. To me, its more indicative of the person worried about someone "finding out" something about themselves. I have a few male friends that segment who they hang out with, and in most cases, its to limit exposure of themselves.

You make a good point about being "outed" ie if you tell tall tales of the wild things you do with one group of friends that isn't true or if you aren't realy with everyone you deal with you could be outed amonst two groups of friends.

I guess in my scenario I don't wanna have to be a mediatior if two groups don't get along. I had two buddies from seperate groups as roomates at the same time. THey didn't really get along and of course instead of dealing with each other like men I would field each of their complaints about the other like I was the parent which was annoying.

I have at times mixed friends and it is fun when things work out well. From a standpoint of you being a conector it can be a negative thing ie there is some value to having connections for various things, if you connect all your groups you are no longer that middle man or connector. A perfect situation one buddy of mine is always asking me to resll computers and phones for him, I introduced him to antoher buddy of mine at Halloween last year and sometimes they do little hustles together as well, not that I've been cut out but I could see how something like that could happen. Ther is some value in being that common element with two parties not knowing each other. Heck look at the movie blow with Johnny dep being the middleman between carlos lederer and that gay hairdresser. Obviously that is more in terms of business than friendship but those two worlds do collide business and friendship sometimes.

[Ghost Dog]

I couldn't find the clip online, but in one of Jim Gaffigan's stand up specials he had a bit about mixing group of friends. Here's one line from the bit that I found at this website while searching for the video: http://blankthis.wordpress.com/2012/06/1...f-friends/

"You ever mix two different groups of friends? That can be stressful. You always feel like you have to prep ‘em. You’re like, 'These people over here, uh, they don’t think I drink. And don’t be thrown by my British accent.'"

Otherwise, the few times I've mixed different friend groups it has gone over successfully.

[Beyond Borders]

I've always had friends from all walks of life, many of them complete opposites. Mixing some of the crowds I roll with would be a nightmare - in fact, I've had it blow up in my face plenty of times in the past.

I think it's a solid character trait to be able to hang with drastically different people who aren't anything like you. It fosters personal growth, forces you to consider new paradigms, and leads to some really interesting experiences.

But be careful about forcing other people to do the same. We're not all so open-minded, and it's akin to forcing your views on others.

That said, you can mix groups of very different people if you select people consciously and only invite those who know how to play well with others and have enough tact to be aware of what to say in front of whom.