Date Night in Washington, D.C.


Have you ever been on a date that didn’t work out the way you thought it would?  Either the guy turned out to be a jerk, or the girl proved that beauty really can be just skin deep.   Thank goodness those days are far behind me, but I can still remember.   

            There are a couple of conversations going on right now in D.C. that would be familiar to any (circa 1955) high school student.  The main participants are a guy—let’s call him Eric—and his friend—let’s call him Barry.  On the other side of town there is a girl—we’ll call her MeDia—and her bff—a star struck girl called Holly Wood.  Let’s listen in on the party line.

 

Eric:  I don’t get it.  I took her out, like forever.  I showed her a real good time at Homecoming in November.  Is it too much to ask that I have a little freedom once in a while?

Barry:  They get pretty clingy after a while.  It is always a case of, “what have you done for me lately?”  There is no accumulated loyalty.

Eric:  That isn’t how we play the game in Chicago. 

Barry:  True up!  It’s like Royko used to say, “In Chicago an honest judge is one who, once he’s fixed, he stays fixed.”

Eric:  These dates never see it like that.  We told them we’d always love them, but they still expect us to behave by some ridiculous code of conduct.

Barry:   We’re free spirits, Ricky.  We have to be able to see other people.  Heck, I’ve seen Doug Shulman from IRS 157 times so far.  Talk about fixing things!

Eric:  Yeah, that’s what I’m talking….Wait, 157 times?  Heck, man, that’s twice as often as you’ve seen me.

Barry:  Don’t act like a girl, Ricky.

Eric:  I’m not.  I’m just…well, anyway, what I’m really upset about is that girl, MeDia.  It’s like she owns me.

Barry:  You’re going to have to make it up to her.  You know that don’t you?

Eric:  I do.  I’ve invited her out to dinner.  I’ll tell her what she wants to hear—again.  And hope she goes back to being her old sweet self—again.

Barry:  And you can go back to doing that voodoo that you do so well—again. 

 

MEANWHILE, ACROSS TOWN:

MeDia:  Holly, I don’t care what you say, I’m not going to let Ricky step out on me and just assume that I will make nice with him when he decides to show up at my door with a come-and-go rose, microwave popcorn and a DVD.

Holly:  But he’s so dreamy.  

MeDia:  He’s treating me like a cheap date!  What happened to the fancy restaurant, the theater tickets?  And those walks on the beach never happened at all!

Holly:  But he’s so dreamy.  Those eyes.

MeDia:  Are you listening to me?  He said this time was going to be different—that I’d always be special.  Now it turns out he’s been messing around with me and on me.  To make it worse, now he says he wants to meet me and, “…talk things over.”  He says it will all be the same as it was and that it was all a big mistake.  I don’t believe him.

Holly:  But he’s so dreamy.  Those eyes, that voice.

MeDia:  I don’t care how dreamy he is.  I’m not going to be used like that.  I’m not going.

Holly:  If you don’t want him can I have him?

 

Holly, he’s all yours.  MeDia, keep the faith.  

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