Recessions

One of a number of posts relating the travails of the Gentlemen of the Embassy as they navigate the D.C. social scene.

Met a friend for happy hour last night. Tried a different place called Recessions. It's supposed to be a great dive bar with a great happy hour....

It was in a basement. It looked a hotel bar at a $80 a night hotel in Toledo. The sort of places I spent most of Jan.-Feb. of '08. There was small "business center" right next to the bar. But we were nowhere near any hotel. And all three of the bartenders were overweight Pakistanis. I have never had a Pakistani bartender before. The whole thing was odd. But $3 well drinks and a decent cheese sticks so I wasn't complaining...

Until the guy listening to his iPod while sitting by himself next to us at the bar started engaging us in conversation. He told us he was a vegetarian and he thought it was murder to "smoosh an ant" (he said "smoosh an ant about 17 times during the conversation). Then he started telling us about his pet gerbil. And he got emotional when telling us about the pet gerbil and showing us pictures of the pet gerbil on his iPhone. And he said that he and his partner of 13 years would give their own lives for the life of their pet gerbil. Made me wonder about the places they have let the pet gerbil roam.