Friday, February 10, 2006

The Jersey Guy

I tell guys up front that I don't drink in case that's important to
them. Nothing about morality -- it just makes me physically ill.
And I try to be openminded about bridge and tunnel people because I
realize that affordable apartments are scarce and not everyone can live
in Manhattan.
So when a guy from New Jersey asked me to go out on Friday evening, I
said sure. He was kind of cute and he assured me that he thought it
was great that I didn't drink.
His choice of where to go? South Street Seaport. For those of you
unfamiliar with the place, it's the most suburban feeling block in New
York City. It feels like one of those Jersey malls plopped down on the
edge of Wall Street, and it caters almost solely to tourists and
commuters. He wanted me to meet him at a bar there, which seemed like
an even stranger choice.
I found out why he thought it was the perfect place for our date --
because ladies got 2 drinks for the price of 1. He wanted to go there
so he could have me order HIS beer and he'd get them 2 for 1. This got
old really fast. Finally I suggested going back to Midtown and he once
again said he knew a great place -- Tommy Makem's, an Irish bar where
the drunken patrons actually sang "Danny Boy." I made up an excuse and
left on my own. Fortunately I was walking distance from home.
The next day he called and asked me to come out to Jersey -- for a keg
party!