Annals of overheard conversations #2: The date that went south … way, way south
Friday, October 19th, 2018
The Book Haven’s recent experiment with the romance that blossomed on the flooded rails of the Metro North line outside New York City inspired us. (Read it here.) Why not run a series of overheard conversations? These are the seeds of great short stories. Or maybe even novels…
This one comes from my sister-in-law, the award-winning journalist Beth Hawkins, usually writing about education and public policy, financial inequities in education, and schooling for disabled students, but this time she was at the Chicago restaurant Leña Brava, featured in PBS’s “Mexico: One Plate at a Time.”
“Host Rick Bayless was floating in and out as the date cratered,” she explained to me. “And because I know you know: I was enjoying a buttery Chardonnay-Vermentino blend from Baja California’s Valle Del Guadalupe while they squirmed.” Here she goes:
Listening to a date go soooo far south. She won’t sit next to him. He’s unctuous. She’s texting. He’s making anxious jokes.
Waiter comes and starts the menu walk-through. Gets to Option #2, a tasting menu. “You choose two from this section, two from this one, but you gotta get together and agree on the same order. Both in, got it?”
She’s looking out the window. He’s joking with the waiter now, covering.
“Option #3, that’s our entrées for two. Two of you, one dish. You go all in, commit to exploring the same experience. Together.”
He leaves to get their drinks.
Dude: “Can I crash on your couch? You won’t hear me snore.”
Waiter comes back. They’re gone.
Looks like the PBS cameras were pointing the wrong way.
