My husband, J, and I met in a loud, crowded bar. This is actually pretty odd, because neither of us are loud, crowded bar people. Even when I was in my early twenties and going out with friends, I preferred quieter, out of the way bars where I could carry on a conversation without screaming over loud pulsing music and could make my way to the bathroom without having to shove anyone. J rarely went to bars at all, preferring to have friends over to watch sports and hang out. But on this particular night, I was dragged out to a popular local bar by a friend who thought it was time I ventured outdoors after a devastating break up several months before. I brought another friend along (a male friend), and by chance, my male friend hit it off with the female friend who insisted on forcing me out of my pajamas and away from my pint of Ben and Jerry's. That female friend felt guilty that she was basically on an impromptu date with my male friend when her sole purpose in dragging me out was to get ME a date, so she called J, a friend of hers, and told him to come meet her cute redheaded friend. An hour later I looked up and saw J smiling at me, and that was it. Four months later we were engaged. My male and female friends who hit it off that night were not so lucky. After an uncomfortable second date, they never spoke again. Oh well, c'est la vie.
On our first "official" date, J took me to a sports bar. That probably should have been an indication that I was going to be a sports widow, but I somehow missed the clues and now find myself married to a man who during this sports heavy time of year tends to spend a whole lot of time with his best friend D, either fishing or watching football, baseball or hockey. So I was not surprised when J informed me on Saturday afternoon that he'd be spending the evening with D. What shocked the hell out of me was that they were planning on going to a popular bar with D's wife to see a band. Have I mentioned that J is not a loud, crowded bar person? He doesn't dance, he knows absolutely no music that is not played on WMMR, and he's almost painfully shy in large social situations. I could not think of anything he would enjoy less than spending the evening surrounded by strangers in a bar that wasn't playing a sports game on a giant TV. Not that D and his wife L aren't fun people; we definitely enjoy their company. But we enjoy it at a quiet dinner or a backyard BBQ, cause that's who we are. Being the wonderful wife that I am, I attempted to remind him of these facts, but J was determined. He was going out on the town with D and L, and he was excited.
An hour into his evening, I got the following text: "This sucks." Shocking, I know. Twenty minutes later: "Did I mention this sucks??" And then, "OMG, I think I'm going to puke. Some chick from Jersey Shore is here." That's right, my homebody husband had managed to find himself in the same bar where Deena from Jersey Shore was making a personal appearance. So that meant he was also surrounded by people who had gone to that bar specifically to meet Deena, and pay $25 for her autograph. (Not D and L, they were there to see the band. Just needed to make that clear.) J's sole interest in reality TV is watching Holmes Inspection and House Hunters with me on HGTV. I doubt the Jersey Shore fans were up for a conversation on home renovations.
J stuck it out, though. Of course, D and L were his ride, so he didn't have much choice, but he powered through, and when he returned home the next morning (they got back to D and L's so late he just crashed there), he admitted that I had been right to try to dissuade him from going. He said, "I think I have to go out like that every once in a while to remind myself that I hate going to those places." So, lesson learned. At least until next time...;)
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