Easily One of the Stranger Conversations I've Ever Had

On Saturday I went to Baltimore for the Frozen Bikeless Bike Tour. This is a annual event that involves copious amounts of alcohol and very brightly colored sweatshirts. This year it also involved the following conversation via text.

Random 716 Phone Number: heyy :)

Me: Who is this? I got a new phone. (It was group consensus that this is the most democratic answer to texts from people who's numbers you don't recognize. That way if you do know the person, you're not exactly offending them. Hopefully.)

716#: mandi :)

Me: Mandi. I'm not sure we know each other.

716#: mike?

Me: Not Mike. Sorry wrong number.

716#: im so sry hun 2 bother yu..

Me: No worries!

(Now, let's all keep in mind she said she was sorry to bother me. Where I come from "I'm sorry to bother you" means "I realize that I'm interrupting your day and I'm sorry for that and I'm going to stop interrupting your day now." Not to mention we have already established I am not the boy who's phone number she thinks she got. Whoever you are Mike with the phone number similar to mine, thanks a bunch.)

716#: who is this thn, if yu dnt mind me askin

Me: Um, I'm just a girl from Buffalo.

716#: ru datin a guy named jon (Seriously.)

Me: Nope.

716#: ok gd lol haha take care thn

Now after we realized I wasn't Mike but then we learned I was a girl, why did we assume I might be dating Jon? How does Jon even play into this at all? I may not know alot about the etiqutte of accidentally texting random people but I'm pretty sure about 90% of that makes about 0% sense. But now that it's out there in universe, what do we suppose the story is here? I'm pretty sure I don't care but I'm also fairly certain I have to know now.

If anyone has any information regarding Mandi, Mike, Jon, and the apparent torrid love affair brewing between them, please post it in the comments.

I think I'm in the middle of some kind of geographical quarter life crisis...

Hands down the best part of my job is the travel. Even when it's to places that are not exactly bustling with activity. Even when it causes serious considerations of where I am and what I'm doing there.

The Scene: Todd Conner's in Baltimore, MD.

The Players: Me, The bartender, The part owner of the bar

Me: Can I have a Bud Light please?

Bartender: Sure, can I see your ID?

Bar Owner: So who are you cheering for?

Me: The Penguins.

Bartender and Owner pretty simultaneously: Ohhhhhh...Hahahahahahaha...I guess we can forgive you.

*At the next commercial break*

Bartender: So wait a minute, let me get this straight, you have a New York ID, you're cheering for the Penguins, and you're in Baltimore. What's up with that?

Me: You want the kicker? I live in Philadelphia.

The above caused such whooping from the Bartender and the Owner that the cook actually came out of the kitchen just to hear the story and make sure he got a few jabs in at me as well.



So the story goes like this: I have a New York ID that I will not give up because some sort of weird malfunction in my brain that says "You must always be a resident of New York State."

I was born and raised in Pittsburgh and would be literally disowned if I cheered for anyone but the Pens. No seriously, I think my mom would kick me out of the family. I've been convinced for years the only man who could destroy my family was Mario Lemuiex. And of course, it's fun to be a winner. (And yes I know the chances of us being winners overall are slim, but a girl can dream can't she?)

I'm in Baltimore because work has beckoned me down for my monthly visit. If you ever find yourself near Fells Point get yourself to Todd Conner's. Good atmosphere, great people, delicious food. I dominated a pound of shrimp like there wouldn't be anymore shrimp ever again in the whole wide world. The people who worked for the bar were nice, the people at the bar were nice, both things very important to a gal who's going to sit alone at a bar. They didn't even make fun of me when I started screaming during the first period. Screaming followed by yelling, "Oh my God, I've turned into my mom! I'm so sorry!" (REALLY embarrassing)

I live in Philadelphia because... Well, I'm still not sure how to finish that sentence, not to strangers at a bar anyway. So yes, it is some kind of crisis I didn't know about until last night. Maybe its time to become a resident of Pennsylvania, maybe it's time to shuffle back to Buffalo, Lord only knows. But if all this mess will continue providing stories like the aforementioned, then I suppose I can let the crisis continue.