Last time I wrote about the thrill of an onslaught of fresh white snow → A Colorless Confetti of Crystals from the Sky
Here I write about my oldest “work” friend. Not old age, but in terms of who I’ve known at work the longest, in a ‘down for whatever’ moment. Met her outside work on the streets and we impromptu ended up at a happy hour that same evening.
Let’s call her “Bachata RD”, because she is into Bachata and other Latin dances. She now instructs Bachata, and I admire how she took a hobby and developed it into something through which she’s adding value to others through her instruction. She is legit competition level good in Kizomba which she’s also really into, and Bachata, and also very good at Salsa, Merengue and the other Latin dances.
I met Bachata RD a couple of years through a then mutual work acquaintance skipping around downtown DC mischievously, hunting for something fun to do. Bubbling with excitement, and so carefree. She’s always down to hang out, and also probably one of the more spontaneous friends that I have in terms of social activities. In fact she’s become something of a weeknight hangout buddy, because those are never planned and she’s the one person that we can snap our fingers at 5:00 pm and find ourselves at some new rooftop unwinding that same evening.
RD has this distinction of being very well acquainted with restaurants and the hospitality industry. Need restaurant recommendations? Need to know how to get the manager of a restaurant working for you? Know which hotels have the best happy hours? She’s the gal for that. Two things here:
First, through her I’ve discovered some nice places for drinks, usually in nice hotels that I wouldn’t otherwise have stopped by. Second, she knows exactly not only how her drinks should taste but how they should be made. So there’ll be this funny situations where she will return drinks to the bar a couple of times, or “educate” the bar tender hahaha! But she somehow manages to do that without getting charged.
Semi-related to the above, she’s the person through whom I’ve tried the most bougie things. Things like visiting a countryside resort, or going to a polo match are not activities I would usually go to on my own volition.
But I’d do a disservice to suggest she’s just a drinking buddy. For example, I know what she means to her family, and the responsibilities she’s has chosen to take up. She’s become a trusted friend and someone who is willing to confide in me and vice versa, while remaining incredibly fun and very open minded.
One last thing — she laughs. We laugh a lot together on this happy hours and 5-star hotel bars. That’s a good thing. You learn something from everyone, and with her maybe a simple valuable lesson is remembering to laugh.
She’s down for whatever. I’m down with her.
Street Art of the Day — The Dancing Women (Berlin, Germany)
