Shitty Bartenders are the Worst People on Earth.

Yeah, that's right. . .bad bartenders, they're the devil. The bartender is charged with a great responsibility. . .to ensure that I can gladly justify paying exponentially-inflated alcohol costs by consuming it on their premises. Tonight was not the case.

There is a new wine bar on Polk Street, and it's a neat looking place. Mirrored glass, dark-wood and black leather bar, wine buyer with an adventurous palate. Tonight however, was an experience. I usually reserve my nights out to correspond to Dash's nights off, tonight was an exception. Dash was in a seminar and I was left to my own devices. So my initial thought was, "I can spend $15 on dinner at the local eatery, or I can stop in to this new wine bar and spend that $15 on a flight of wines," conveniently offered tonight, because business is traditionally slow.

Getting cash is always an issue, so I went to Walgreens and, expecting to taste through a few red wines, bought a bag of Lindt truffles and got cash back, instead of doing the convenient thing and getting cash at the ATM next door. Turns out, if you ever buy chocolate to taste next to wine, DO NOT, under any circumstances offer it to any member of the opposite sex. . .even if you mean well.

My observation of this evening is nothing less than this: women under the age of 65 that wish to congregate and drink wine should do so outside of a 50 foot radius of similarly aged males doing the same. . .because they just don't get along. Please don't misunderstand: I am all for people falling in love over too many drinks, or even just making a few bad decisions. . .but there is a time and a place. At 6:30 on a Tuesday night, it shouldn't be automatically assumed that I am attempting to bed the woman sitting next to me.

Anyway, I'm getting bored with this rant. Needless to say, this apathetic bartender did nothing to create an atmosphere conducive to anything that I was looking for, and left me feeling penalized for daring to venture into the "realm of social alcohol without the aid and protection of my girlfriend." Honestly?! The beauty of wine is also a huge detriment: it is wildly different to everyone that experiences it. To effectively drink wine socially, it appears, one must now "interview" wine bars in order to judge the best fit and feel. My take: Horse Shit.