Conversation Piece
If you’re ever worried about how to talk to people in a bar, I have one suggestion- carry a prop. It gives people a reason to approach you and something to talk about.
While Callie and I were out for drinks the other night, we spotted a guy wrapped in caution tape. He had wrapped it around his body and tied it around his forehead like a headband, and still managed to look cute, which was a feat in itself. It definitely succeeded in catching our eye.
We were suddenly overcome with curiousity, so Callie walked up to him and said, “I have to know. Why are you wrapped in caution tape?” His response, “Because I’m a dangerous man,” was obviously well rehearsed, but this led to him walking back to where we were sitting and continuing to talk to us.
Caution- one must be careful about what they use as a prop, because it will forever be associated with you. Callie got into an argument with one of his friends who tried to steal her stool from her. When she turned her back, he replaced her stool with a trash can, which luckily she narrowly avoided falling butt-first into. We laughed it off, but from that moment forward the friend, whose name I don’t even remember, will be known as Trash Bag.
Eventually, the caution tape got passed around and everyone ended up wearing it at some point, almost like a bonding ritual. It turns out it was the day before Caution Tape’s birthday and one of the bartenders had given it to him earlier in the night. After numerous drinks he insisted that we come to his birthday party the following evening.
The next day, while getting ready for the party, Callie and I brainstormed what we could bring for the birthday boy to use. After tossing around feather boa and silly glasses, we decided that caution tape would be too tough to top and headed out the door. It turns out we had no reason to worry- he greeted us with a kids plastic sword hooked to his belt loop.
What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever seen in a bar?