Happy Cinco de Mayo!
Jim had selected Waterfront on Tamiami Trail, about four miles south of the Fitness Studio, as our rendevous point. When I "set up" two people for the first time, I always suggest dinner in a relatively quiet setting. I always seat my date to my left by grabbing our seats first before there can be any awkward standing around while contemplating the seating order. After a little light banter about any odd looking people in the restaurant, I eye the dinners at surrounding tables and ask my fellow tablemates if they would find it embarrassing if I were to ask for scraps from other tables. The answer is usually yes, they would mind. Then, I immediately transform myself into...Johnny Carson! You read that correctly. I begin to interview one or the other of the couple I am setting up that night. It may be about places they have traveled (I am the Master of the segway) or other restaurants they have patronized. Perhaps I will touch on jobs they have had in the past as I search for more common ground between my two guests. As soon as they begin to speak directly to each other, I look down at my plate...my meal becomes the most FASCINATING thing I have ever seen. I am mesmerized by the meat, hypnotized by the vegetable, intrigued by the remainder of the appetizer. I hang on my dates every word...and watch with rapt attention as she cuts her food. But if I detect the slightest lull in conversation from across the table, I become Mr. Carson once again! To be cont...
No comments:
Post a Comment