I booked a Time Left dinner where I was matched with six other people. They sent us to a little nicer restaurant than usual so I had an excellent meal for $100. To be fair that did include two glasses of wine and an appetizer in addition to my entree. I still think about how cheap my ex-husband was (except as it related to his cars) every time I treat myself to a dinner like this. He would have been horrified at a dinner with that kind of bill. But I digress, it really is not relevant to my night.
We were an eclectic group at dinner that connected in a way that lead to an easy, familiar banter pretty early on in the evening. Conversation flowed, sometimes as an entire group, sometimes in two separate simultaneous conversations. Two and a half hours flew as if no time had passed.
Time Left then sets an after party location for all the Time Left dinners to get together and enjoy drinks. I had not gone in the past because with dinners that start at 7, by the time we are done, I'm ready to go home. Plus, I've never been in a group where others were headed there afterwards. But this group was different. So six of us walked the four blocks together to the designated venue to continue our conversation.
Although, I think everyone was at least in their 30s, I suspect that I was the oldest of those of us who continued on for drinks.
The conversation took an interesting turn after a round of shots. We started analyzing each other. It started with a question about who we thought was least credible perhaps even lying about the stories they told. There was a man who was quite evasive about the stories he told and so his name came up pretty quickly.
They asked me as an investigator how to tell if someone is telling the truth. I talked about how I listen for the mundane details, the ones that aren't completely relevant. Rehearsed stories lack those details, or in some cases any details at all. As that man continued to be evasive in what he shared, I watched the lightbulb go on in another's head as he recognized exactly what I meant about details.
Then the analysis turned to me. I had stayed too quiet earlier on - partly because it was hard to get a word in and partly because I was really enjoying observing. One woman was quick to pick up on that. I forget the words she used to describe me but she suggested not underestimating me and that I may not be quite what I seem. They then joked that if we as a group were out and found ourselves in some sort of trouble, it would likely be me who lead them into that trouble.
I think there is talk of a bar crawl along the beltline one weekend coming up soon. We exchanged some information plus have access to the chat in the app. I would get together with this group again.
Recently, I've joked that I feel like I'm in the middle of a social experiment. Maybe on an even broader sence then just these Time Left dinners but definitely in the more narrow scope of these dinners. Last night took it to a different level where it felt like we were openly discussing the results of such an experiment.
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