Two of our friends had tickets to an Art Auction for charity – but were both sick and unable to go. We were offered the tickets with promises of a good time and good food.
Jim didn’t want to go at first. I wasn’t sure I wanted to go, but decided that I should. Politics had been getting us both down and it looked like the Department of Education was going to be shuttered – and what it meant for someone that worked in Higher Ed was to be determined, but likely bad. I felt like going into hiding to wait for the worst, but thought that going out into the world was going to be good for me.
I talked Jim into it and the next day we arrived at the venue right on time – with a PDF of the transferred tickets queued up on my phone.
Our names were on the nametags at the check in – along with our bid numbers. Though, neither of us were really interested in buying any art.
We made a loop through the venue to check things out and decided on eating first, then checking out the art. The first stop was the pasta bar where you picked your protein, veggies and the type of pasta – and the chefs cooked it made to order. It was fun and delicious.
We found a spot to eat at a standing table and had a nice conversation – with no politics. Jim finished his meal first and I stayed at the table while he scoped out the desserts.
He came back with a plate of goodies and gave me directions for my own foraging. I actually gasped when I saw the table of desserts and loaded up a plate. I also accidentally got coffee – the carafe was labeled “hot water”, but I just rolled with it
We ate our dessert and talked about how we had been looking for people we might know and how we kept almost recognizing people. We finished our dessert and went around to look at the art for auction.
And it was…okay. There were a few nice pieces – mostly the photography – and some that looked like they might have come from a basement. This included a painting that was 80% frame.
There was also a painting of a very caucasian-looking indigenous woman that reminded us both of “white Jesus”.
As we made our way around the tables, I saw a woman that looked like a co-worker that I’d only ever met on Zoom. I approached her, asked if her name was Heather and it wasn’t. I apologized and said she looked very familiar and she explained she worked at Luigi’s and got that a lot. Which might have been a thing if I ate there frequently.
A few minutes later, another woman put her arm around me from behind and said, “Dan, it’s good to see you,”
When I turned to look at her, she let me go and said – “oh, you’re not Dan. But you are wearing the same color jacket. “
(I’m assuming that Dan is also bald.)
Shortly after that, we ran into some that Jim did know – though she couldn’t stay and talk.
Having reviewed all the art, we went back and sat down for a bit – and I decided to try the Mashed Potato Bar – served in a martini glass with a choice of toppings. I picked mushrooms and bacon and it was so fancy I took a picture of it. Jim got some fruit and warned me to not get carried away. I’ve been known to do that at a buffet.
There was a program starting and it wasn’t really interesting to us. We slipped out quietly into the cold night and headed home.
And it was, indeed, what we needed. We had some great food, we were surrounded by art-minded people and so-so art, and were out in the world.
Rather than staying at home doom-scrolling.