I’m in the midst of a socializing frenzy. After going weeks without seeing another soul I’m now seeing friends almost every day. Yesterday’s event was Joe’s 70th birthday party. For the fourth time in two weeks I found myself heading out to Allison and Joe’s house on the wrong side of the Hudson, aka New Jersey. I didn’t have to pay Charon the ferryman, just New Jersey Transit, and I got the senior discount. The party started at 2 and the plan was to take the 2 o’clock bus from the George Washington Bridge bus terminal. I left my house earlier than the usually accurate Google Maps said I had to but then the A train was delayed. My extra time all disappeared. Then I went into deficit. I got off the train and ran to bus stop. There was a line waiting for it and it was still listed on the sign. Whew. Then I waited. And I waited. The bus came off the overhead sign. There was no indication anywhere we could see of when the bus would arrive. Why have an electronic sign when it doesn’t give the info it needs. Maybe inside the board said the bus was delayed but you can’t see that from where you board the bus. I finally figured out how to use the NJ Transit map to see what was going on. By then it was 2:14 and it said it would arrive in four minutes. I saw that the couple in front of me were also agitated by the bus being late and told them it would be there in four minutes. I voiced my frustration that I’d be late. They asked where I was going. I said a party. They asked, what party? I didn’t expect it to mean anything to them but I answered, “My friend Allison.” Guess what, they were going to the party too! The man worked with Joe. I should have known that the nice people I was enjoying talking to were friends of my friends. The app was almost accurate, the bus came in six minutes, at 2:20. We got to the party in 20 minutes so it wasn’t that bad.
When we got to their apartment we had to follow a trail of balloons to the party. It wasn’t a line of balloons. When you reached one balloon, if you looked around you could see the next one on your path. A couple of times it was tricky. The balloons said “70” on them. I thought they should have had Joe’s face. This is why nobody asks me to plan parties.
I knew I’d have a lot of friends there, a lot of overlap in our social circles. There was Clan Solebello-Berube, Carolann, Mark, and Felix, Clan Miles-Mafale, Catherine and Jay, both clans are part of the great Chicks with Dip Tribe, other members of the tribe there were Katherine, Sharon, and Victoria. How much is this my tribe? I was tagging pictures on Google Photos today; I think the people are listed in the order of how many photos you’ve posted, at least that Google recognized from the faces. 7 people there are on my top 24, me, Carolann, Katherine, Allison, Catherine, Jay, and Mark. That’s a very high percentage for an event that didn’t center around me. Then Sharon comes in at 35, Joe at 81, and Felix at 91.
Can there be something that’s more me than writing about spending time with great friends by trying to quantify the experience? To me those numbers speak volumes; I fear that it puts others to sleep. Wake up! These are fun people. Not like me.
Katherine, Felix, and I played on the playground equipment. OK, I didn’t use the slide or swings like they did, but I still had fun with it all. I encouraged Felix to jump down from the top but made him promise to not tell his parents that I did that if he got hurt. Felix and I agreed to not outwardly laugh if the whole thing collapsed when Katherine used the far too small swing. We knew we’d laugh on the inside but on the outside we were going to be caring people.
I somehow think that I’m not coming off well in this post. At least I’m honest; I get credit for that. I’m binge-watching The Good Place, one of the sitcoms centered around theories of moral philosophy. That’s a genre, right?
I’d be driven out of Clan Nash if I didn’t discuss the food. I had meatballs on pita, cookies, watermelon, and ice cream cake. I should have had more cake.
On the way home I didn’t have to take the bus back to the GW Bridge Terminal, Clan Solebello-Berube drove me. It’s very easy to drive there. There were no major delays on the subway ride home.
Since I’ve been home I’ve been spinning my wheels. That’s why I am not updating until the late afternoon. That’s not good. I’ve felt lethargic. I’m doing a bit better now. Going to the Met game tonight will help. Jason deGrom is pitching! I need to be good and eat dinner at home. That saves a lot of money but it means eating early. I can do it.
Wise Madness 