I was with “the guys” -- my friends from high school, college, and beyond this past weekend in Des Moines. It was awesome - we haven’t hung out in a long time and it was just really nice. We grilled steaks, drank beer, and hung out in downtown Des Moines. The guys wanted to play bags so we went to this bar by my place down there … my most hated bar* in the world. I feel really old at this bar, and it just feels like a big frat party and I don’t know; I just don’t like it. I was at the bar ordering an old person drink (gin and tonic) and 3 young women looked and acted strange around my friend Craig and myself. Seeing how it was only 5PM and we were just off the bike trails and completely sober - this was odd. We moved to the other end of the bar to order and the bartender came over and said to me that the three girls said we were buying them these shots he already had in his hand. “What?” I was taken aback and didn’t know what to say so I said “ok”.
Well, Craig’s major issue with this is they didn’t even thank us. I agree - if you order something and make someone else pay for it, the least you can do is thank them. My issues are 1. They assumed (correctly) that we would pay and 2. I paid. I should have been onstage enough to say “no” but … This is one of the reasons why I hate this bar - I feel old and out of touch there. I’m not going back.
The world is different now. We have to relearn how to enter back into polite society. How to act and react, and how to feel comfortable in uncomfortable situations. I was watching videos the other day and some gal was talking about going back to work in an office after a year of working at home. She basically said that it is an adjustment to wear adult clothes, behave appropriately, and not to nap in the afternoon. However, COVID is not an excuse to charge your shots to old guys who will probably pay. No matter how excited you are to be out and about, there is never an excuse for this.
*the tipsy crow; good name … only redeeming quality in my book.
