Thursday, June 24, 2010

Day 231: a confession.

It is my last day in my favourite city in the universe (that I know of, and apologies to all the other places that I also love - New York is just my town.), and I feel like it would be wrong of me to leave without fessing up about one teeny tiny thing. Do you remember when I said something about having eaten a Shake Shack Shroom burger and a chocolate frozen custard shake (still one of the most awesomely American and delicious eating moments this trip)? I totally understand if you don't. I don't expect my eating habits to stand out in your memory as unforgettables. However, something else happened just before I did all the shroom chomping and shake slurpin'. I think I may have gotten drunk. Not stupidly drunk. Not even actually drunk by any true measure of the word. But just a tinsy bit? Let me explain. After a heady day of various awesome New Yorky activities, I met the wonderful Cambria at a cool rooftop bar (the name of which is a number that continues to escape me) with amazing views of the Empire State building and the city in general. The drinks menu had a section called "On the wagon" which I took to mean non-alcoholic, an assumption supported by the generally lemonadey quality to all the drinks on the list. Neither me nor Cambria wanted boozey drinks so we both ordered delightful sounding Blueberry Lemonades. When they arrived they tasted kind of like you'd think they should, a little syrupy maybe, but mainly like blueberryish fizzy stuff. We were having a very pleasant time, so when we finished our first drinks, we ordered seconds. It was only as we were leaving that the weird, slightly socked between the eyes feeling started to register. And then I almost slipped down the stairs, and Cambria recalled having almost fallen off her stool. Were our drinks spiked? Or was that some seriously sugary blueberry syrup? We definitely felt a little loose. But the drinks were "on the wagon". What the? The only thing we could think of was that our friendly waitress, who had commented on our outfits and was being really palsy, had decided to flick us some surprise alcoholic freebies. Weirdly enough, Cambria and me as a combo do seem to inspire people to throw free alcohol at us, and even free food. Today at Balthazar, the awesome Soho institution of stylish, French, total New York coolness (if there can even be such a combination - of course there can! It's New York for Chrissakes!), the waiting staff gave us free Champagne and free dessert (berries and cream! I did eat the cream, I didn't drink the Champagne) for apparently no reason, except that I was late and our table wasn't ready the instant we arrived (go figure). It was lovely. Anyway, whatever the case, if there was alcohol in those Blueberry Lemonades (and I think there was), what does this mean for my mission? I wasn't looking to drink alcohol, but I'm pretty sure I did drink it. Does this wreck everything? Do I add another day on the end? Or do I just continue as normal, and acknowledge that you can't control everything all of the time? What do you think? I kind of feel like I didn't fall off the wagon, because it wasn't intentional. But I've gotta tell ya, walking around in the NY evening heat feeling just a tad tiddly did feel pretty freakin fun! Does that constitute a betrayal of my own sober convictions? I don't know, I don't know. I think what I'll do, and have been doing in fact, is just keep going. If you have an opinion on where all this leaves me, I'd be very happy to hear it.

3 comments:

  1. Ah, don't be hard on yourself, it was an accident! Just enjoy your trip and, like you said, accept that you can't control everything all the time :)

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  2. I agree with Melanie M - don't be too hard on yourself. After all, it is your own personal journey and you make the rules. Relax! and continue on as normal... no harm done.

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  3. I feel completely cheated. Next you'll be swigging cough medicine 'just for your throat'.

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