Happy Anniversary

It’s Friday night—about 6:30ish.  The Cotton Exchange is packed.  I’m sitting at the bar, waiting for my take out order.  Seems the after work crowd is here.  That’s a good sign, the food must be outstanding.

They are also at the bar, a man and a woman, I’m guessing early 50’s. Their conversation is deep.  Elbows on the bar, heads drifting together then apart, looking at a sheet of paper, it appears to be a discussion about some individual people and what sounds like, the woman running through qualifications of each person the man names on the list.  I really try hard not to listen.  Really.  But they go on and on.  Their conversation is so intense.  Sounds like a problem that really needed further attention at the office, not here.  My food seems to be taking forever.  The man sits back with a heavy sigh.  The woman offers up some sort of alternative I cannot hear.  That sends them into round two of their evaluation of people, and the project or projects.  Seems like she knows a lot about the people he is talking about, but may not be directly involved with the company?  Hard to say.  And he is really looking to her for the answer, he seems to be feeling limited, frustrated, maybe left stuck with a mess that is not fixable?  He wants to know if she wants another beer—she figures why not.  They are both agitated and thinking so hard it must hurt.  I know I’m getting sucked in, and exhausted just as a bystander.

I turn to them.

“Hey!  You guys!  Good grief I’m trying not to listen, but I just have to comment.  I have never heard two people so deep into the work mode at 6:30 on a Friday night before!  You need to chill out!  It’s happy hour!”

They both stare at me, blank, expressionless stares. 

I’m thinking oops…overstepped here… 

They look at each other.  Then back to me.  Blank stare. To each other, then both burst out laughing!  The man tosses his head back and holds his chest, the woman puts her head down on the bar laughing, then raises it up and says;

“Oh my gosh! We are always like this!  Oh you sound just like our kids.  Today is our anniversary!  Oh my Gosh!  And they continue to laugh until they are both about crying.

And that started an hour of getting to know Mary and Randy, a couple of engineers from Atlanta, celebrating their 30^th wedding Anniversary.

Randy was choking he was laughing so hard.  “Thanks for reeling us back—you’re right!” 

We talked, and I mostly listened, for the next 60 minutes about their 30 year journey together, their overlapping careers, their kids, their grand-kids, and their plans moving forward.  They are holding hands now.  Lovely, hard-working people, and now they are thinking about enjoying the rest of their evening without any more business speak.   My work is done here.  I take my cold carry out and leave.

Happy Anniversary Mary and Randy!