Julie
06-22-2005, 02:36 PM
Monday Laura asks if I want to go out to lunch. I'm dressed. There's this girl bar that she has been telling me about and they serve food so she figure's it's a good time to take me there. I've been out in the daylight several times but usually it's at a time or to a place that has few people. This time would be different.
One thing I have a tendency of doing is not being able to back down from a challenge. No, Laura wasn't challenging me, I was challenging me. This was an opportunity to do something I wanted to but I was still apprehensive. So I went.
I drove and we pulled into the parking lot in back. The place is on a very busy main street in Chicago and it's lunch time and everybody is out. I see a door to the place in the back so I ask Laura if we can use that. "No it's usually locked." So we have to walk to the front which faces the street. The sun is directly overhead and there's not a cloud in the sky and there's yours truly, dressed, walking along a street that is at one of it's peak traffic times. Oh well, just do it!
Now I'm expecting most of the people there to be female. I mean, the place is owned by a lesbian couple, they make no attempt to hide it, they advertise to attact other lesbians so it makes sense I'd expect to see few men. Wrongo, dogbreath! Besides the owner tending bar, there was only one other girl there and the rest were all guys. And from the expression on their face they had never seen 'one of these' before, at least not in person. Yeah, the place turned suddenly quiet when I walked in. (I later found out the place is considered a country/western sort of redneck bar.) I thought about the 'you make me sick" comment I got last week and wondered what I could expect here.
Laura picked a table where I had my back to the crowd. Anywhere I go I have always picked a seat at a table or booth where I can see most of the crowd. For one, I like to people watch but there's something deeper too. So I'm feeling none too comfortable sitting there with my back to the crowd, especially thinking of the facial expressions I saw when I entered.
We ordered our food and talked to the owner a bit. Then I try to rearrange my seat so I can at least see some of the place. After I do, I see one of the guys who had that 'look' on his face when I walked in. Laura starts talking to him and he comes over and introduces himself. Then he talks about a wet t-shirt contest they are having that evening and asks if we'll be there. Laura says she has to work so he turns to me. I'm non-commital. He presses me to come and tells me how much fun it will be (no I don't think he was hitting on me, just being friendly). I loosened up after that but there were still a few characters who I caught giving me that sidelong glance with that 'what the hell is this" look.
We left after a couple of hours without incident. I did however get to see a cat at the bar. :eek: After we were done with our lunch we sat at the bar for a bit. I look across at the other side and see a cat's head peeking above the bar. It looks so funny sitting there as if waiting to be served. Oh, if I had my camera! So the bartender takes out a shot glass and fills it with milk. The cat jumps up and starts downing it's shot. I wonder if I'll ever see anything like that again? :rolleyes:
One thing I have a tendency of doing is not being able to back down from a challenge. No, Laura wasn't challenging me, I was challenging me. This was an opportunity to do something I wanted to but I was still apprehensive. So I went.
I drove and we pulled into the parking lot in back. The place is on a very busy main street in Chicago and it's lunch time and everybody is out. I see a door to the place in the back so I ask Laura if we can use that. "No it's usually locked." So we have to walk to the front which faces the street. The sun is directly overhead and there's not a cloud in the sky and there's yours truly, dressed, walking along a street that is at one of it's peak traffic times. Oh well, just do it!
Now I'm expecting most of the people there to be female. I mean, the place is owned by a lesbian couple, they make no attempt to hide it, they advertise to attact other lesbians so it makes sense I'd expect to see few men. Wrongo, dogbreath! Besides the owner tending bar, there was only one other girl there and the rest were all guys. And from the expression on their face they had never seen 'one of these' before, at least not in person. Yeah, the place turned suddenly quiet when I walked in. (I later found out the place is considered a country/western sort of redneck bar.) I thought about the 'you make me sick" comment I got last week and wondered what I could expect here.
Laura picked a table where I had my back to the crowd. Anywhere I go I have always picked a seat at a table or booth where I can see most of the crowd. For one, I like to people watch but there's something deeper too. So I'm feeling none too comfortable sitting there with my back to the crowd, especially thinking of the facial expressions I saw when I entered.
We ordered our food and talked to the owner a bit. Then I try to rearrange my seat so I can at least see some of the place. After I do, I see one of the guys who had that 'look' on his face when I walked in. Laura starts talking to him and he comes over and introduces himself. Then he talks about a wet t-shirt contest they are having that evening and asks if we'll be there. Laura says she has to work so he turns to me. I'm non-commital. He presses me to come and tells me how much fun it will be (no I don't think he was hitting on me, just being friendly). I loosened up after that but there were still a few characters who I caught giving me that sidelong glance with that 'what the hell is this" look.
We left after a couple of hours without incident. I did however get to see a cat at the bar. :eek: After we were done with our lunch we sat at the bar for a bit. I look across at the other side and see a cat's head peeking above the bar. It looks so funny sitting there as if waiting to be served. Oh, if I had my camera! So the bartender takes out a shot glass and fills it with milk. The cat jumps up and starts downing it's shot. I wonder if I'll ever see anything like that again? :rolleyes: