A girl walks into a bar

It was Friday. I had semi-made plans with a friend for Friday night. Then, on Friday, she informs me that better plans came up, and she'd rather do that then follow through on the plans we semi-made. (She phrased it much more tactfully than that.) Another girlfriend was hanging out with the New Beau that night, so I was left to my own devices.

Instead of staying in and watching another rented movie for the 9,345,834th straight weekend, I decided to go out. Alone.

I had never gone to a bar alone on a weekend night, and I always envisioned that chicks who did that were either looking to hook up or were bummed and wanted to drink their sorrows away. I was neither. Nonetheless, I wanted to do something different, something perhaps dangerous yet at the same time exciting.

I chose a bar that was laid back and understated, not pretentious, not trendy. As I walked toward the bar, I became a little nervous. What the heck, would I just go in, order a couple drinks, and uh wait for the action to happen? No idea. But it was something new. And it was better than staying in after being jilted by my friend.

I peeked in the window and saw it was not too crowded, which made me hesitate at first, but I said to myself, "Just go in." I took a deep breath and opened the door.

The bar stools were all taken except for one. A guy was standing by it (Immediate Assessment: Cute). So I walked up to the chair and asked him if it was taken. He said, "No." I replied, "Are you sure? Because you're standing right next to it."

He looked at the chair. "No, I mean, I might have sat in it, but I will always give up my seat for a lady."

"Oh, ha ha," I said and then sat down. "Thank you. And sorry."

"No my pleasure, I will give my seat for a lady, a pretty lady at that, but any lady will do."

I looked at his glass of beer. "How many of those have you had?"

"Four."

"Ah," I said. Then I ordered myself a Jack on the rocks. The first of many.

The standing guy was apparently with a guy sitting in the stool right next to me. I knew I could've pursued the conversation, but I wanted to scope out the place a bit more. I looked around the room, and saw everyone was securely affixed into their little cliques. I remained the sole drinker.

So the two guys next to me were talking about movies. They were speaking somewhat loudly, so I couldn't help but eavesdrop. Then they began talking about that Groucho Marx quote in my Annie Hall entry below. They were butchering the quote and they weren't even sure if it was Groucho Marx. I couldn't take it any more so I turned to them and said, "No, the quote is this: 'I don't want to belong to any club that will accept me as a member.' And yes it is by Groucho Marx. I know this because Woody Allen quotes it in 'Annie Hall.' "

They blinked at me, and then nodded. Standing Guy said "Oh so are you a movie buff?"

"No, I just happened to have seen that movie not too long ago."

So all three of us got into a conversation and talked about stuff ranging from politics to types of beer. They were best buds with the bartender, so I met him as well. Each of them bought me a Jack on the rocks (which got me a tad tipsy).

At some point in the conversation, both guys gave me their "contact information." Standing Guy gave me his number, while Sitting Guy gave me his business card. Then later into the night, Sitting Guy left (who was married). I'm left with Standing Guy.

We stayed longer, chatting and flirting, even after the bar closed at 2 AM. The bartender played some wacky videos on the bar tv and let a few other cronies in. Standing Guy and I left the bar at 3-something in the morning and went to a diner across the street and talked even more. I learned a few extra things about him that lead me to think this was not long term relationship material (e.g. he smokes & he lives with his mom). Afterwards, he walked me home, which I thought was nice. He asked to "use the bathroom," which some other guy told me was a ploy to get inside, and I said (truthfully) that my place was a mess. We hugged and then he said "Call me."

Now if he tried, I would have let him kiss me. And if he asked me for my #, I would have given it. But oh well. I was in bed by 5:15 AM.

All in all, a fun time. At a bar alone.