Hi, my name is Marian and I’m not from here. Will you be my friend?

As a transplant, I’ve found myself wanting to ask this question quite a lot. And if it wasn’t for what little pride I have left, I might have already broadcast it on a more shady platform like Craigslist.

The transplant dilemma of finding friends in a new city certainly isn’t a new theme in this town. And it’s made worse by the fact that once you reach your mid-twenties, making new friends post-college only becomes tougher. You find yourself replacing BFF’s with FFN’s (friends for now) and skipping Sunday brunch all together, because solo Mimosa-sipping isn’t socially acceptable.

Asking someone on a “friend date” just doesn’t feel natural. Although always a good idea – the process of reaching out to a total stranger with a friend plea, feels, uh I don’t know, weird? And with every young professional’s busy schedule, it becomes more of a burden than anything else.

Yesterday, one Redditor put it perfectly when they addressed this dilemma with his question:

And we’re pretty sure this applies across the board to all young Boston professionals, regardless of age. Which is why we’ve come up with a few (more natural) alternatives to the awkward “friend date” with a stranger. These networking opportunities present a great way to meet your new mimosa-sipping best friend.

Good luck and let us know other great ways to meet people in the city!