Couples love to compete over restaurants. It's an integral part of what my friend, John, and his wife, Kristen, have deemed the FRIEND OLYMPICS. You see, couples are eligible for the Friend Olympics if they have 2 or more couple friends. Most couple friends don't necessarily hang out with each other--meaning--that mutiple couples usually only hang out in foursomes. Dinners for six can become cumbersome and the foursome, to the marrieds, seems more manageable. I, for one, couldn't really care less how many people I hang out with, but these days being as busy as we all are, it seems nearly impossible to get more than four people in one place at a time anyway. Once you're eligible to compete in the Friend Olympics, you realize that couples get fickle about who they give up their friday, saturday and sunday nights to. If you're on the A-List, you'll get a Saturday night, the C-List, a Wednesday and so on. With that being said, if you're a serious competitor, and you tend to have the real deal weekend plans, you'd better do something AWESOME-a triple lutz, a quadruple flip off the diving board-you'd better break records. In the Friend Olympics, you'll encounter situations where you feel like the competition's really getting to you, times when all of your training and focus might blow out the window over something as simple as...A RESTAURANT.
Case in point. A few weeks ago, we were out with our dear friends, Cari and Aaron, and we were talking about a restaurant we'd all been dying to go to.
CARI: "I tried to get reservations at Cecconi's for the other night when our friends were in town..."
ME: "Wait a minute...you were going to go to Cecconi's WITHOUT us?!"
My statement was so incredulous you'd think I was suggesting that she and Aaron had been secretly planning to go to the moon. Friend Olympics was in effect.
CARI: "Yeah...why?"
Crestfallen, I shrugged my shoulders and pouted like I was eleven years old.
ME: "I don't know..."
Cari looked at me as if I was out of my mind and I then made it my mission to try Cecconi's that very week.
But I did have one win in my future this past weekend when we made plans with Mike's friends, Jennifer and Yuval. Our game got off on the wrong foot from the very start. First, Jennifer suggested an 8:30pm dinner when Mike and I were thinking more like 7pm. The fight had only just begun.
Jennifer: "So I was thinking we'd do, like, 8:30ish?"
ME: "Are you crazy? I'm already starving and it's 5:30. We haaaaave to do 7pm."
Jennifer: "Alexis, get a grip. It's Friday night. Let's at least do 8pm."
ME: "7:30"
Jennifer: "7:45"
ME: "Fine."
I wouldn't consider that a win. It was more like a tie. Then comes the decision about WHERE TO EAT. Now, couples get very attached to "their" restaurants. They all have the places that are dear to their hearts, places they've been dying to try, and places that are, to them, sure to please any difficult palate, allergy, or vegetarian tendency. In this game, I found myself on the offensive--I was in it to win it.
Jennifer: "I made a reservation at Cheebo."
ME: "Ew. That's a lunch place. What about Sur?"
Jennifer: "Yuck. Sur sucks way more than Cheebo. What about Frida?"
ME: "I already checked. They can only do 9:30. What about Larchmont Grill?"
Jennifer: "We've never been there."
ME: "Guess we'll have to try it!"
I could feel the hesitation in her voice.
Jennifer: Fine."
I WON! VICTORY WAS UPON ME! Until...Yuval and Jennifer picked us up and Yuval began to whine, "Larchmont Grill's American food. I really wanted spicy, like Thai or Mexican."
Mike and Me: "Too late!"
But our gold medal high wouldn't last long. Last night, we had dinner with Matt and Lisa and they informed us that they had gone to Osteria Mozza, a culinary hot spot that we haven't yet been to, with our other friends, Dave and Jen.
ME: "You went to Osteria Mozza with Dave and Jen and you guys didn't invite US?"
MATT: "We only had a reservation for six and Lisa's parents were in town, so..."
ME: "Uh huh...I see how it is. We lost the Friend Olympics. No no...that's OK...I understand..."
MATT: "Want me to pour more salt in your wound?"
ME: "Please..."
MATT: "It was AWESOME."
With one bronze medal and a gold under our belts, we ended the weekend tired but excited for more. Next weekend, I'll be out of town, and Mike will have to see which couples fight over alone time with him. Maybe he'll bring home a silver and our collection will be complete.
Comments