wine

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Sitting at the Bar to Eat at Restaurants

Stress causes cancer. Avoid stress when possible.

I refuse to drive around the parking lot looking for a close spot. The times I have, it only made my blood pressure go up. It makes no sense that I make a point to exercise daily, yet I would deny my body the exercise of walking a few extra hundred feet from a further parking spot.

Another way I have found to make life more enjoyable is by not waiting 20 to 45 minutes to get a seat in a restaurant. Pretty much without exception, whenever my wife and I go out to a restaurant where tipping is involved, we ask to sit at the bar. So far, every time we were instantly seated. No waiting.

But it’s not just simply about not having to wait out in the cold for 25 minutes on a Saturday night. There is much entertainment value to be had by sitting at the bar to eat. We are people watchers. It’s somehow intriguing to watch the bartender make drinks and interact with everyone. And to observe the other people sitting at the bar. Often we are the only couple seated there.

The bar is often quieter than the rest of the restaurant. And less claustrophobic. The bartender, who is the waiter for people seated at the bar, is right there when we need him. All I have to do is just look up at him. Bartenders, by nature, are cooler and more laid back, and less annoying than waiters.

We’ve never actually ordered an alcoholic drink while eating dinner at the bar. And the bartender never cares. Because his tip from our $28 meal is much higher than if we would have just ordered drinks instead.

That’s something I don’t really understand. Why people buy beer and wine at restaurants. What a rip off. Plus a dollar per drink for a tip. No thanks.

Eat at the bar, not at the table. And enjoy a glass of wine or beer at home, not at the restaurant.

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What is the Point of a Man Wearing a Bathrobe?

Men wearing robes. More of an abstract concept than anything.

In movies sometimes, men wear robes when they’re getting ready for bed. Often, villains wear them while scheming with their henchmen inside of a mansion. In real life, I only see men’s robes if I stay in a really nice hotel or B&B- I usually am given the option to purchase one from the room for about 65 bucks. But I never drop the cash for it. As far as actually walking around the house in one, I haven’t yet had that privilege.

Though In 1984 I did have a Gizmo robe that I wore every night. But that was 25 years ago.

 

I do hold this romanticized idea of coming home from work, slipping into a burgundy robe with matching slippers, and to make sure I fit the whole stereotype, I would slick back my hair. I would keep a pipe in the pocket of my robe- not to smoke sweet smelling tobacco, but only to give a better “robes man” image to unexpected guests. A glass of wine would help the persona as well. Just poured from a cheap $8 bottle from Macaroni Grille- my unexpected guests from Connecticut wouldn’t know the difference by sight alone.

It would help if the first room my unexpected guests saw when they came over was a dim-lit “study” where a comprehensive library of classic English literature was on display, while also on my mahogany shelf were three immaculate model sailboats. And a bear skin rug. And something from Africa too, like a tribal shield. Not only am I sophisticated, but I am a world traveler.

 

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How to Hang Out with Friends and Have Fun

An instinct we had as kids is that we always knew how to hang out, without a plan or agenda. In the way that Adam and Eve were not at first aware of their nakedness, we used to have the blessing of being unaware of social awkwardness and social cues. It’s an ability that began to escape us sometime around junior high. When I was a kid, it didn’t matter which friend I was hanging out with after school or spending the night with, we never got bored or recognized that we were about to run out of activities or subjects to talk about.

I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that as kids we knew “how to play”. Though I may not be a girl, I remember my sister and her friends always seemed to be playing “House”. Females socialize. Males, on the other hand, compete.

As boys we would go outside, often to the woods, to play out some sort of good guys/bad guys scenario. Our version of “Cops and Robbers” was more like Ninja Turtles Vs. Shredder. Bikes and water balloons were often part of the plan. When we got tired, we’d go inside and play Nintendo until we had regained enough energy to initiate a wrestling match on the carpet. And there was the trampoline too. Hours of fun.

But as adults, we don’t use “playing” anymore as the main way to interact with our friends.

It’s not as simple as an adult just to tell a friend, “Let’s hang out at my house after work today”. In many cases, the hanging out is done outside of the home. Instead of playing like we did as kids, adults talk and “catch up”. But there is always a staple to bring the people together. It may be sharing a meal, going to watch a game or movie, or a showing up at a party associated with a holiday or sports event.

But the most simple and common thing I see is people going out for coffee, beer, or wine. The drink serves as a campfire. In the same way people gather around a campfire and find comfort in it with those around them, a drink of choice magically sets the fertile environment for good conversation no matter the location. If by chance the friends find themselves in a noticeably quiet moment, it’s easy to fall back on the easy conversation piece: “Starbucks is wonderful”, “Good beer”, or “I love this wine.” Obviously it’s good. If it wasn’t, it wouldn’t be the modern day campfire.