At the end of the month I'll be doing two things I've wanted to do for a long time on the same night. First, I'll be attending a social anxiety group and then after that I'm going to go to trivia night at this English pub. I've signed up for a few groups on meetup.com and that's where I heard about these events. Actually I've been to the social anxiety group before but that was just a casual get-together at a restaurant. This time it will be at a hospital and someone from the group told me that the room is very hard to find. Joy! I only signed up for the second group about a week ago. It's a board games and trivia group which is great for me because I love trivia and have been looking for people to go to trivia events with.
Since I had never been to either of these places, I thought it would be a good idea to drive to them just so I could see where they are. I had no trouble finding them, but there were parts of the journey that didn't go so well. First of all, after I found the hospital where the sa group is supposed to be held, I couldn't find a place to turn around so I just kept driving and driving. I didn't know where I was and I was starting to get very anxious. Why is there never a place to turn around when you really need one? Any signal I came to said no u-turn. I was cursing out loud thinking I was going to get lost. That's what I do when I get anxious and I'm by myself. Luckily for me I sort of ran into the freeway entrance and was on my way to that pub downtown.
Two problems occurred on this trip. When I got off on my exit there was this weird signal and I didn't know if I was supposed to yield or stop and if I was supposed to stop, then at which signal cause there were two of them very close to each other. I couldn't figure out what to do so I just kept going and probably ran two signals. Thankfully there were no cops around but that was still embarrassing. Then I found the place all right, but again I couldn't figure out how to turn around. There were a bunch of one-way streets, and I ended up driving to the top of a hill where some houses were.
I was able to find my way back to the freeway but I felt bad for having so much trouble. Also, I have no idea where I'm supposed to park at the pub. There are some spots but they were all taken and it was only 1pm on a Wednesday. I'll be going there for one of their most popular events so there is no way I'll be able to find parking. On top of that I'm not sure I'll be able to find the room where the sa group is supposed to meet.
Driving to places I've never been to before and trying new things in general is something that gives me a lot of anxiety. I'm so afraid I'll screw up and look like a moron. Being perceived as a moron is a big fear of mine.
Tags: Driving Anxiety
