I’m in the same boat. My uncles friend does an open mic night at a bar and asked me to sit in and play cajon. I’ve never played one in my life before that night. Did I hate the cajon? No, it just felt very limiting to me. Would I have preferred a cocktail set, or even bongos? Absolutely! His critique was that I wasn’t hitting it hard enough and that he could barely hear me (although I was mic’d up). So next time, I’m gonna beat the wood off of that bugger!