Jan and I went out to a bar and a jazz club last night and it was just hilarious to watch people in both places...
It actually started on the way to those places; everyone was walking around with huge boxes filled with long-stem roses and other really bulky items that must just be annoying as hell to carry around. But hey, it's Valentine's day, girls seem to either be annoyed because they don't get such a bulky thing, or because they do get it and their date isn't gentlemen enough to carry it for them. Probably because they spent way too much money on something they didn't even want to spend the money on in the first place, just out of fear their honey is going to be upset when their flowers/gifts can't compete with honey's coworker's valentine's day achievements...
So with this slight tension in place the next step is bringing your honey to a really expensive restaurant where you then save on tip (see
Connie's story), to not let expenses get completely out of control. As this is valentine's day, you can't just go home after dinner of course and that's why Jan and I had so much fun watching people last night.
After some awesome dinner at home:
First scene:
Charlie's kitchenCharlie's kitchen is a mix of a diner and a dive bar, with a slight feel of Tortilla flats, they have Miller High Life signs on the walls, are decorated with lots of neon lights but serve decent diner food and quite cheap beer. Usually a fun college kid hangout. Last night however, it was people watching heaven: The girls to our left, bitching about valentine's day all night and gossiping about all their ex dates, probably because they didn't score a date for that night - well, they made up with pitchers of beer and fries and added to our entertainment. To our right, a fresh date, having some very serious discussions about family relationships, holding hands all the time, giving each other air kisses and being so focused on each other that nothing could get their attention. Actually probably the nicest couple we've seen that night, except that they didn't seem to laugh at all...
Too bad we had to move on quickly...
Second venue:
The Regatta barI was quite skeptical about that one I have to admit. It's one of Boston's most famous jazz clubs, but always had this "old people's hangout who take jazz much too serious and forget about the fun of it" feel to me. But hey, the band was good, so we went anyways. And it was GREAT people watching again. They seat you at tables of 4 and we were paired with this really funny couple to watch. Probably about 20 years old - at least that was our interpretation of them ordering sparkling water to drink (or he was really cheap and didn't want to spend any money there). For half the show they actually focused on filling each other's glasses with the right amount of water. She was obviously not interested in jazz at all, and he probably just wanted to impress her with an upscale place. Too bad they ran out of water (should have gotten the large bottle, not the small one) halfway through the show at which point there was really no excuse for her anymore to spend more time in the bar and they had to leave. Well, a better view for us on the stage...
To our right, equally entertaining, young girl with really old date. With them it was more the other way around, while she LOVED the show, he was obviously bored and much more interested in touching and kissing her... They had to leave half way through the show because it was probably time to go to a place they could have wild sex all night... Made us think what it is that fascinated her with him, maybe he was rich...
Well, with both those couples gone we could focus on the music, which was really great. Smooth Brazilian jazz with the Vinicius Cantuaria Quintet, too bad that most of the people there didn't come for the music…
