Tuesday evening was the last class of the summer at Pace. Everything from here on out is online classes. Woohoo! So after a truly educational experience, the class was looking forward to some varsity-level drinking. Unfortunately, Bayside, my usual post-class drinking buddy, was listed as doubtful due to a pinched nerve in his neck. Undaunted, I decided that I would brave the Beekman Tavern with only my less-familiar classmates to keep me company. In any case, it was the last class of the year and I'd be damned if I wasn't going to toast the end of the madness.
Class was done by 7 PM and Bayside and I headed south, I for the liquor and he for the subway. We parted ways and I headed towards the bar, already stuffed with education students outside on their first smoke break. I made my way through the group towards the door, only to be stopped by someone calling out my name as I passed. I turned around, expecting to see someone from a previous Pace class. Instead, I saw GlacierGal, who I literally had not seen since graduating OSU. Instead of a polite "Hello" or "How are you?" all I managed to get out was a "What the hell are you doing here?" This also marks the second time that she's proved the diminuitive nature of the globe to me. When we first met in Ohio, we discovered that she had been friends at Smith with QuayHoe, a girl with whom I'd attended high school. QuayHoe told me then that this girl was crazy, and I have had many instances to see it for myself.
The funniest of these instances is remembered fondly by those of the OSU Geology department, and involves GlacierGal, J-Ro, a massive amount of liquor, and J-Ro's bathtub. 'Nuff said.
It turns out that GlacierGal is actually a Teaching Fellow as well, Cohort 13. And she's teaching high school Earth Science. And she's taking classes at Pace. And has been since February. The magnitude of the coincidence can not be overstated. Naturally, such a fortuitous meeting required that drinks be ordered.
As we drank and caught up on the last two years (How long had it been? She asked about ReporterGirlfriend.) we were joined by her classmates and some old classmates of mine, namely BronxHippie and Bones. Soon the bar that I had ventured into alone was chock full of people I knew. GlacierGal and I chatted about old girlfriends (she prefers the company of women), Bones and I talked about school, BronxHippie and I discussed baseball. The evening was going well and I was buying drinks aplenty.
As is so often the case, it soon became clear that we had all been there far too long. GlacierGal headed for Brooklyn, where a lovely man on the 5 train flashed her. BronxHippie, Bones and I hopped into a cab and headed for Bones' apartment on 8th St. Bones is a surgeon turned teacher, so though he could easily afford such a place up until recently, I have no idea how he does it now. We were all fairly close to the point generally called plastered, so the natural thing to do was to try and see just how messed up our minds could get before the evening was through. Turns out, our minds can get pretty messed up.
We became aware of our surroundings again circa 1:30 AM and immediately wondered where the time had gone. With the evening suddenly up in smoke and our dim perception of the world around us gradually becoming less hazy, we decided it was time to call it a night. I walked north towards Union Square and called PianoGirl, who was really thankful to get a drunken stoned phone call at such an ungodly hour on a Wednesday morning.
As I approached Union Square, I decided that it was too hot to take the subway and I was going to take a cab instead. So I flagged down an air-conditioned taxi and headed for home. My body soon ceased functioning and I lost consciousness.
It was only after peeling myself from bed this morning that I thought about my credit card and realized I had no recollection of ever paying my tab. With a due sense of dread, I opened my wallet only to find that all my plastic was present and accounted for, along with a receipt from the Beekman Tavern. I apparently left a nice tip.
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