At the suggestion of a friend, I decided to post the story behind why my friends and I love to toast to "new beginnings":
Last summer, I took a little vacation out to L.A. to visit some friends and see the city. Since my dear friend and hostess had to work, I was perfectly fine figuring out the city on my own (including taking public transportation in LA; apparently a pretty big faux pas).
I went to shabbat dinner, where I started chatting with this guy about LA. He was telling me about the best things to see and do, and when I mentioned that I didn't have a car, he said he was going to see the new exhibit at The Getty museum the next day. He asked if I wanted to go along.
Now, color-me-naive, but was it totally bogus for me to think that a guy just wants to see the new exhibit at the art museum, like he said? I mean, c'mon guys, right? ... guys?
For confidentiality purposes, we'll call him "Frank." But to be honest, I never caught his last name anyway. And he's not on facebook, because it's just "too mainstream." Right, one of those.
After looking at artwork for an hour or so, we sat down in the food court, where Frank revealed a bottle of wine. Awkward small-talk ensued, and then things took a turn for the worse:
Frank: "So, I guess the elephant in the room is 'what's the age difference between us?'"Elephant in the room? I thought the elephant in the room was "why did you bring a bottle of wine to a museum at 2 in the afternoon."
Me: "Oh, I'm uh, I'm 24."
Frank: **smug laugh** "That's the exact age difference between my ex-girlfriend and me."Ya don't say.
Me: **Awkward, uncomfortable giggle**
Frank: "I'm actually 36. How do you feel about that?"How do I feel about that? Buddy, I could care less, I'm just trying to look at some artwork.
He then proceeds to raise a glass, stare at me for what seemed like 5 minutes, and then made a toast:
"To new beginnings."I quickly finished (ok, chugged) my glass of wine and politely made up a reason to leave. Don't get me wrong, he was really nice and it was thoughtful of him to take me to the museum and all. But, I know a red flag when I see one (though, one could argue that I don't see red flags, which is how I ended up in this situation in the first place).
Out of this delightfully awkward situation, a new toast is born, that is applicable to pretty much any life situation.Are you getting engaged? To new beginnings!Did you land a dream job? To new beginnings!Are you taking a girl that is visiting your city (for only a week) to an art museum? To new beginnings!On a final note: the Getty museum was awesome. I hope to go back and explore it further one day (sans Frank and his suggestive bottle of wine).
