#96: "stop talking"

When my oldest son is mad at me or my wife his way of showing it is often to tell us both to stop talking. It started out kinda cute, and I'm sure we laughed at it. We tried to talk to each other and not talk to him. That failed miserably and caused him to yell at us even more to stop talking. So we just quit talking. We got the message loud and clear.

For Christmas my wife got me a bike maintenance class at the bike shop where I bought my bike last August. It's a cool shop, and if it were closer to home it would be my go-to. It's good to know about though, as I would definitely walk an injured bike there if I were anywhere close because not only did I have a great purchase experience, the two classes I've had so far have been really good, very hands on, and super informative.

It makes for some difficult evenings, however. The most obvious one is that it prevents me from being home to help with the kids, so I'm very grateful that my wife is extremely adept at handling them (and she's able to get get away from work on time to get them!). Another is a strange commute down the L train that drops me off in a neighborhood that I'm not super familiar with. It has also so far left me with time to kill, since no matter how hard I try to get somewhere with just enough time, I always seem to get there super early.

My biggest struggle to kill the time is where to sit. I don't really want to make small talk at the bike shop for that long, and honestly I need to eat something before I'm on my feet disassembling and reassembling brake systems for two hours. So I've been searching for interesting restaurants or bars to hang out in while I wait for class to start. They've been... interesting.

The first week I found a comics and video game themed burger joint that actually made a decent chicken sandwich (and had a good happy hour sandwich/fries/drink deal for $11). They were playing Incredibles 2 on a bunch of curved TVs and had just about every game console you can think of on a bunch of old CRT monitors. Sad to say the highlight there was a person that both talked to loudly and wouldn't stop talking about a three month relationship he'd just had - and he spared no detail while trying to convince his friend how much he knew she was the one and he had to get her back. Everyone in that place needed to move on.

This second week I happened to walk by a restaurant that was on my short list to try and on their sandwich board they were advertising Goose Island Bourbon County Midnight Orange Stout. I couldn't turn that down, so I got a seat at the bar and settled in for dinner. 

The food was good, if a bit more expensive than I'd wished for. The bartender/server was the only person working, and she was really smart about not making too much conversation. She did ask me what I thought of the beer (my only complaint was that it was too boozy), and I told her that I write about beer as a hobby. It's then that she wanted to introduce me to the chef/owner, as he also owns a local beer store.

This is where things took a turn.

First off, once this guy got started he would not stop talking. I didn't really care that he got 'the only keg of Midnight Orange in New York City' because it's probably not true. I also didn't need to know about where he lives in Sheepshead Bay, and I for sure had absolutely no care to know or hear any of his terribly misogynistic comments about his wife (there were many) or his sexist jokes (they weren't funny). I didn't need to see the visible uncomfortableness of the bartender, who left the room because he just kept going. I would have walked away if I'd had the chance to pay my check, but since I hadn't I was forced to endure all that bullshit.

It's only a shame because the food was good and different and I would eat it again. I just don't feel like I can go there anymore because he couldn't stop talking. No excuses for that - I don't care where he's from or where he lives or that he's the owner or anything. 

I guess next week I'll just hang around the bike shop and make small talk.