Last week I bought my Radiohead tickets, which left me no money to
party. It’s time for some thrifty thinking. I get a MySpace bulletin post from a
local rock band, “come to The Social tonight and say you are there for Million
Year Echo, get a free drink!” This bodes
well for my situation. I love shows at The
Social and I love “free” – so I started out in search of a free drink.
I arrived at The Social in downtown
After their set, I run into my friend Sean who offers me a
drink – this is too easy. I accept a Stella Artois and then go outside with the
other lunar eclipse gazers – did I mention there was a lunar eclipse this night?
It was neat, but really it’s just the moon. A quick phone call to my girl so we
could share this “Fievel Goes West” of a moment and I’m back inside. I could sit here all night and drink up,
but where is the challenge in that?
I look down at the table and see a ticket for a free
20-ounce draught at McRaney’s Tavern in
I hear that there is free Miller High Life at BackBooth on
Pine Street – a whole damn keg of it and I’m gonna get my share. A short walk
and I’m sitting at the bar with my new best friend Carlos who is here for the
free MHL too. We discuss the benefits and losses of former ‘80s night Footloose
vs. new indie night Runway, both of us looking for someone better to talk to. Then
I meet Tabi, Rachel and
“I swear I don’t normally dress like this!” Tabi squeals. After two
beers (free drink count now at four) I leave BackBooth to find my free beer at
McRaney’s.
At McRaney’s, I submit my free drink ticket to Susan and
meet my new, new best friend, Jules. We talk about science nerd stuff and about
the half-man, half-tree guy out in
BackBooth is winding down, but there are still some folks
hanging out, including Carlos. We talk again about the value of “ladies nights”
– still both looking for someone better to talk to. I find a girl alone at the
bar who is texting someone and I hone in on her. She’s cute and looking bored and so am I. We
chat for a bit when she introduces me to Justin, who does marketing and
promotions. He and I talk about business and politics and after a long time
without a drink – he offers me a beer which I accept.
By
Tip for getting a
free drink: stand awkwardly without a drink while talking to someone almost
finished with their drink. When they ask
“You drinking tonight?” Shrug shyly and say “Weeeeell…” “Come on,” they’ll say,
“let me get you a drink.” Score.
Bands seen: 2
New Best Friends: 5 (Carlos, Jules, Tabi, Michelle and Justin)
Free Drinks: 7
Lunar Eclipses: 1
Hot dogs eaten: 1
Celebrities creeped out: 0
Random girls creeped out: 7 (concurrent to the number of free drinks… eerie!)
Joshua Woodman can be reached at Jwoodman@metromix.com
