TGI Fridays and Kush (so many men, so little time)

Yesterday, I had a bad day at work! I am so ready to own my own business, it's not even funny. I admire people who can actually go to work and not feel passionate or fulfilled about their job. After I got off work, I decided to go to my hang out spot close to work, which is TGI Fridays. They are actually going to be closing down at some point this summer since they are building this huge transit hub in lower Manhattan so I better enjoy it while it's still there. Where else can you go and get $2 drafts, $3 margaritas, and $4 appetizers; you can't beat that!! I ran into a few of the regulars and we started discussing my 2nd favorite topic (when I'm not talking about politics) which is dating. The conversation included both the black and white perspective which made it very interesting because I realize that culturally we date very differently and at times I think that we are programmed differently in terms of how we prepare to meet a potential mate and/or walk down the aisle with a guy. Towards closing time (around 8:45pm), this guy, who had been hanging out with his boys all night, started talking to me and it turns out that he lives in VA, just out of DC, and he drove up with some friends to celebrate the departure of some of his friends from a job down there. He is a cutie, 38y.o., single African American guy, who claims he will be back here on business in about
3 weeks. He wanted me and my friend to hang out with him and his boys, but I could tell that they didn't want that (bringing sand to the beach concept) so I said that we would leave and I would call him once I got home. When I called him, we had a quick conversation and he mentioned that he would be leaving early this morning so I probably wouldn’t get a chance to see him before he heads back to VA.

I took a cab home since it was getting late and I was feeling a bit buzzed. I stopped off at Kush, an African restaurant around the corner from me, and ran into a guy, who claimed to know me. I realized that once he treated me to a glass of wine that it was clearly a bad line that he was trying to use on me. I thought I would keep him company for a little while since I felt bad because he was eating dinner solo, it’s like giving back to the community by donating some of my time. The guy came off very nervous and almost in shock that I was even sitting next to him, so clearly, there’s a self esteem issue. He went on to mention the fact that he’s currently unemployed and wants to open up a restaurant in NJ, I think he said.
It seemed a bit random since I think he has no experience as a chef nor does he seem to have the business acumen to keep a business running successfully over the long haul. However, I could have underestimated him and he could prove me wrong.

I finally dragged myself home around 11pm and realized that coming home to an empty apartment when you're single can really suck, especially when you have a few drinks in your system and you proceed to do the "drunk dialing" to talk to people who might still be up and start rambling to them in some slightly coherent fashion. I managed to talk to a few friends, including a few in NY, one in LA and another in Chicago. The time difference makes it easy to find people who are still up late at night in places outside of NY since most people here tend to go to bed well before midnight and I wouldn't want to wake them up. Somehow, I finally fell asleep around 2am or so and when I got up, it was not good because I clearly had a hangover. Needless to say, I was in no shape to go to work so I had to stay home and fully recuperate!