Sunday Night Report:
After finding out that my iPod now contains 0 songs, as opposed to the corrent 2800+, I headed out to Wicker Park to meet Phenom at a trendy coffee shop. A couple observations:
1. It is just like Phenom to want to hang out in a trendy coffee shop when he is the epitome of the pretty boy yuppie the patrons would likely wish to have contained within the Gold Coast, the LP or Boystown. Actually if he was the type that lived in Boystown, they'd probably be cool with it.
2. Everyone had a Mac iBook. Sometimes stereotypes are accurate.
3. If I had worn my Bush pin I wouldn't have been allowed in or would have been called a fascist by several patrons. (This was enough to launch me on a tirade after leaving about the fecklessness of the youth and "progressive" movements, currently putting thoughts together on this for a future posting).
After discussing various exciting concepts regarding inventory and how to map them in Excel we headed off for a restaurant. Since we couldn't go to one of my fav. pizza places, Piece (Phenom can't eat cheese), I suggested that we go to Tango Sur, since I know we both were fervent carnivores and I hadn't actually eaten when I was there for SPF's birthday a few months ago. It is v. trendy so we were pumped and made the trek up north. Things did not go well.
We got there and were seated at a table. We ordered. The food arrived. I ordered an entree that was served on a tabletop grill. Part way through the meal something on the grill decided to pop, some fat or water coming from the beef or sausage. It threw burning fat and meat juice all over the table and all over Phenom's sweater and face. He jumped back in the seat with an "Argh, F*@&!" The restuarant stopped talking and the wait staff rushed over to see if everything was okay...with the food. They decided that the food was okay and then left with me agape and Phenom pawing at his face imagining his looks fade away like the picture of Dorian Gray.
After several gasps, I urged Phenom to take a trip to the restroom to wash his face and check himself in the light. I couldn't see any marks, but it was v. dark in the restaurant. He did and then came back to the table. My appetite was gone. We sat there for a while, utterly dumbfounded and then he decided that action must be taken. I was of the position that he should not have to pay for his food, but based on the fact that staff had handled the sit. v. poorly Phenom decided that neither of us would have to pay. We politely went up to the waitstaff and told them that we were leaving and did not intend on any of our money remaining. Althougth the bill would have totaled over $60, they accepted and we left. When we were halfway down the block they came after us.
He had forgotten his phone. So I had to return and pretend that it was mine.
I feel bad because you never put a brother in the position to get hurt, physically or otherwise, and I had. Although we didn't have to pay, the situation was handled v. badly, so I herewith issue a decree:
DO NOT EAT AT TANGO SUR
PERIOD
FULL STOP