Mr. Tanzer, author of "Duane Reade's Progressively More Scary Obama Birthday Cards."

We're all for innocuous real-life trolling--except when it causes boring blog posts. Awl intern and NYU student Myles Tanzer is not a Redditor, the term used to describe highly active members of the network of variously navel-gazing, lulz-having, marijuana-loving, politics-wonking, prank-plotting, and meme-making forums known for being one of the most positive and genuinely sweet corners of the internet. But he does know one! Her name is Nicole, and she guided him to one of the 160 meetups on Saturday for World Reddit Meetup Day so he could write about the quirky people he met there and get mad page views. Spoiler: Everyone was nice and nothing hurt:

For a 30-way blind date, the conversation was surprisingly really good and no one's really that nerdy if everyone else around them is too. It was darn near enjoyable! Nicole and I left in a good mood, and on the way out we shook hands with our new Internet pals. She reached across the table to shake with a nervous IT guy and he spilled his entire beer all over his lap. IRL lulz were certainly had at his expense.

It appears the writer lacks the ruthless instincts necessary to pillory a group of sincere, mild-mannered people. Mr. Tanzer, you may have more in common with Redditors than you think. Should have hit up Global Smurfs Day instead!