An Outing: A Recap

In lieu of a Weekend in Review this week, I feel I should inform you of a little meet-up I had at the end of last week.

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Thursday night I had a little one-on-one dinner action.  We met up after work at a little place called Mia’s Pizza in the heart of Bethesda.  We sat at the bar, exchanged some pleasantries, and ordered some delicious Italian fare.  We were both dressed well.  Both wore bright smiles.  It was a free-flowing conversation.  There weren’t any awkward pauses or anything.  It’s like we’d known each other for years.  Isn’t that how you want every rendezvous to be?  It was going well.

Then I rudely answered a phone call in the middle of the whole thing.  I know, that’s like Date Etiquette 101, but I had to talk to my dad about something important.  I’m not sure about the impact it had on the whole experience.  The vibe didn’t seem to change when I hung up.  I also had a runny nose for much of the time.  Embarrassing I know.  I was just getting over illness and the mucus had not quit yet.  I was constantly excusing myself to blow my nose.  On occasion, I blew my nose right there.  That is scold-worthy behavior, but that is how comfortable I felt.  I didn’t notice any change in mood from the other side, so I just kept going.

As the meal concluded, I realized I didn’t have any cash, so I asked if they could pay.  They generously did so.  How could I, right?  I know.  We decided on some after dinner drinks at a little establishment called the Barking Dog.  Classy indeed.  I drove us there, parked, and of course I had no change for the meter.  What was I to do?  Lucky for me, there’s an app for that.  Just like anything else, there’s an app for that.  I fumbled around with my phone for about 20 minutes until I finally got everything squared away with the meter.  I had to leave the bar and go back to the garage.  I had to link some accounts.  I was gone for mere minutes, yet  I still missed three Capitals goals.  But I could finally be worry free and concentrate.

We stayed for a while.  I was sucking down waters.  Not only to keep a cool head, but also I had been sick.  Didn’t want to make it worse.  Somewhere around 8:30 I decided it was time for me to retire to the old homestead.  I gladly paid for the first two “rounds” (between the two of us) and was on my way.  Just left.  Luckily, there was enough conversation with other parties at the bar that I didn’t feel too guilty about leaving.  Overall, I’d say it was a good night.  Good food, good conversation, good people.  I really think we’ll be hanging out again soon.

I’d just like to thank David Schickert for inviting me to accompany him to use his Mia’s Groupon.