A post in which it is dinner out with the boys

Now I usually don't go to the Thursday night dinners.  I don't have the cash, there are usually too many people for me, and a lot of times they are going someplace I don't particularly are about eating.  Tonight was an exception.  Although I had no particular desire to go there, several of them wanted to go to Twin Peaks.  I hadn't been, was curious, and mainly just wanted to see how it would play out. 

Now we were going into hetero central, a bastion of chest-beating machismo with a side order of mild sexism, so I was trying to kind of fly under the radar.  I wore cut-off khakis and white t-shirt.  When I got there, I met Lee and Joel.  Joel was wearing a bright turquoise shorts and a matching v-neck, skin-tight shirt.  Well so much for flying under the radar.  Now I DO think you should be able to wear whatever you want to a public restaurant, I just also don't think that means it's a great idea to actually do it.  But for the most part, it was pretty laid back, and fortunately I am pretty much impervious to disapproving looks.  As long as I came out with all my teeth I would be fine.  When I had to admonish Lee to get his hands off Joel's nipples, though, I pretty much just cast my lot to the wind and decided to let it play out.

It's unusual for me to feel that I'm somewhere I feel I shouldn't be these days.  There is a unique feeling of  'other' for a gay man breaching a 'guy place'.  It's hard to describe.  It was a feeling I lived with in high school, but it's not a great feeling, and not one I relish.  So I don't seek it out, usually.  But I had a bunch of friends with me, there were some hot guys there, and there was also the thrill of doing something that wasn't a great idea.  I like that.  I have to say, it wasn't nearly as weird as I thought it was going to be.  I mean, basically it's just a restaurant, right? 

Our server (although overloaded with tables) was sweet as she could be, and cute as a button.  She wasn't the best pre-busser in the world, but they had her picking up tables out of her section.  The menu was limited, but the food isn't really the draw, right?  I had already looked at it online.  The food was acceptable.  It wasn't great or awful.  It was fine.  As I say, the food isn't really the draw.  I had fried trout and fries.  Brian had the worst experience with the comestibles.  He found a hair in his food and in his drink.  To make things worse, he had to pull the one that came in his drink out of his mouth.  He was underwhelmed, and I can't say that I blamed him.  But then we weren't exactly going to become regulars anyway, right?  My biggest complaint was that they seated us at a bistro table (which I hate) on bar stools to eat.  By the end of the meal my back was killing me. 

Russ came in in a bad mood, and that didn't really improve a whole lot.  I ended up getting (mildly) into it with him, and said something about their moving on.  It was a bad thing to say at all, and a completely wrong place to say it.  Sigh.  But overall, it was good to see everyone and to get out.  I hadn't been out with them in a while, so it was good that I went.  Besides, they are going to some bacon place next week, and I know I won't be going to that.