My UW alumni group invited me to a charity event at a bar called the Australian. I’m still not clear on the charity, something to do with kids and diseases and summer camp. All things worthy of monetary support. Plus I was hoping to meet some new UW alumni people.
It was $20 to get in and that included a free drink ticket. I got myself a whiskey and ginger ale and looked around the bar for my alumni group. I searched everywhere and didn’t see a soul that I recognized. At the last event I went to, they had their own section at the bar with a sign. This time, I realized, I was just invited by someone from the alumni group, but this wasn’t actually an alumni event. Unsure of what to do, I leaned up against a wall, drank my drink, watched some baseball, and decided once my drink was done, I would head out.
I was not two sips in when a big guy with a huge smile appeared before me. He thanked me for helping the kids and we got to talking. He owned a large finance company based in Connecticut and was friends with the charity’s organizer. I told him my situation, that I didn’t know anyone, and he took me under his wing. He introduced me to all the people he was with and ordered them to buy me drinks and raffle tickets (they were his employees after all) and put it on his tab. It was a surreal experience, and I constantly had a fresh drink in my hand and new people to talk to. I felt myself get drunk quickly though and didn’t necessarily want to be with strangers in that state, so I slipped out.
I headed toward Grand Central, excited about the leftover Pad-See-Ew in my fridge when these two girls flagged me down. I thought they wanted directions, so I stopped to talk to them. MISTAKE. They wanted to inform me about God the Mother, who is apparently God the father’s better half. They pulled out bibles and showed me where there was proof of her existence. I told them that I was raised religious, but that religion was not a factor in my life, and I was perfectly happy that way. They wouldn’t stop! They kept telling me that I only felt that way because of how stifling and patriarchal the Catholic Church is. I told them I was not raised Catholic, and I just didn’t need religion in my life to make me feel whole. I respect that some people do, but not me. They would not let me go. I couldn’t be rude enough to walk away, but I was so frustrated that I just wanted my THAI food. Finally, I got away and headed home to the delicious noodles and veggies I had been craving all night.
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