Friday, June 29, 2012

Sips, Week 4 - Marathon

Dictionary.com defines Rule as:  (n) a principle or regulation governing conduct, action, procedure, arrangement, etc.


It seems simple enough. We learned rules early in life. As a child, there were many rules -- Don't hit.  Don't bite.  Don't ride your bike in the street.  As we became teenagers, rules changed but were still quite clear -- Don't stay out after curfew.  Don't cheat on tests.  Don't steal the liquor from your parents liquor cabinet.  (Okay, so those were the years where we also learned how to strategically break rules too...)  As we went off to college, the rules got a bit loose. Staying out after curfew became acceptable because curfew disappeared.  Stealing liquor no longer crossed the mind since there was always an eager fraternity guy looking to pour it directly down your throat.  And, lets face it, biting was widely socialized....  However, many rules still remained -- Don't cheat on said fraternity guy who not only anxiously over-serves you alcohol, but also has become your boyfriend.  Don't skip your recitation classes for Accounting 211.  Don't convince yourself that you can consume more than one 23oz margarita.  


The old adage "Rules are meant to be broken" is a joke.  Rules are meant to permit you to return to your daycare, attend a school dance sober and prevent the walk of shame.  As we leave the collegiate lifestyle and enter into adulthood, we all have a bit more flexibility to create our own rules of living a successful life.  Some people create few rules for themselves and enjoy the frequent indulgence; some people set far too many parameters and end up missing out on the spontaneity that living has to offer.  I'd like to think that I've found myself somewhere in the middle.  The indulgence of my summer can be defined in one word:  Sips.  Yet, despite the freedom of indulgence, there is one guideline that was implemented after one too many Thursday mornings that started with the thought "How the bleeeeeep is it only Thursday?! And how in the name of the Lord am I going to pull myself out of bed, let alone make it through at least 8 hours of work?"  That one rule, as I've mentioned before is:


When Sips ends at 7PM, the evening ends.  Period.  I repeat:  when Sips is over, the night is over.  


However, without fail, Marathon manages to woo the crowd with it's outdoor patio, it's fancy palm trees and perfectly strung lights overhead.  Like a romantic date, the sun goes down but you don't want it to end.  



It was a bit windy on 19th and Market, but that didn't prevent us from grabbing the last two tables and setting up shop to consume sangria and classy bottles of PBR.  The time moved like it  did in Scrooged, the hands on the clock flying from 5PM to 6PM and beyond 7PM before we noticed.  The first glance at the clock was 7:16PM.  Based on the aforementioned rule, that should have been a bold, blaring siren ending the evening promptly.  However, we all know that this blog would not contain this riveting, attention grabbing post if that were the case.  Before I know it, the sun has long set and I'm deep in a conversation with a guy who is virtually sucking down Long Island Iced Teas at a rate that would get him cast on the Jersey Shore without an audition, and talking about his job working with at-risk youth.  As you can imagine, this combination did not work to his advantage.  However, it did work to mine.  [No, that's not what I mean; get your minds out of the gutter.]  In realizing how ridiculously intoxicated said Long Island Drunken Counselor was, I realized that it was damn near 10PM and this night NEEDED to end.  The BFF was a six-pack deep into the Summer of Coronas and there was a solid chance that the Dominos app was about to be put into action.  So, away we went, up 19th Street towards Dominos, which we both consumed in its entirety sitting in complete silence.  




As always, thank you Marathon for your cheap drinks, your cozy patio and your alluring summer nights.  And thank you for never letting us down on the eye candy, it is much appreciated.  But let this be a lesson to you all: Rules are put in place for a reason.  They keep you semi-safe and kind of sober, but most of all, they prevent you from consuming a bottle of Sprite at 7:45AM on your walk to work.  

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