Iman and Andie's Little Night Out

Andie and I went to Wayan tonight for dinner. An Indonesian/ French fusion restaurant im LES. I wore my comfy quince eco knit mules, an ankle length espresso brown skirt, and a baby pink cotton oxford shirt tied in the back.

Mhmhmhm this was the fit

I toted my dark brown Coach Lana since I was coming straight from work. Andie stunned in a slinky green patterned dress and maroon mules. Dinner was delicious and uneventful right up until the end. Andie and I got into a huge argument with two Nazis that decided to interject into our conversation about who to vote for councilman by saying that they hope every child in Gaza is killed and that the whole city is turned to rubble. If you didn't know me as a young woman, you've never seen me get gnarly. If you did, you'd have been hit with a wave of nostalgia tonight. This was almost as bad as when Sean Cutler told me he was doing me a favor by having me, a brown actor, play King Herod in Jesus Christ Superstar because it doesn't make sense for the show. Which...takes place in the Middle East. It was almost that bad, but I was tired. Thankfully, the restaurant staff (minus the manager) and other patrons shamed them away. After all that, we needed a drink, so we took Shank's Pony over to the Ripple Room.

The Ripple Room is really a Dani spot. She showed it to me. It looks like if they turned the living room of Dan Draper's apartment after he divorces Betty into a two story nightclub/bar. It's very much my vibe. The second floor is quieter, so we went up there. I got an Espresso Martini and Andie got a drink that I don't remember the name of because it was very fancy. We went to go sit in the couches on the west side of the bar, but noticed drinks on almost all the tables. Eventually we decided to settle for a mini table, but were saved by a beautiful woman sitting in the corner alone. She was slender and shapely, she had bra-strap length black hair, she wore a high necked midi body-con with diamond cutouts on the sides, and had medium skin with a yellow undertone. She looked to be anywhere from 40-65. Who can tell with people of color?

"No one is sitting at that bigger table, you should use it! So you don't have to use the small one." She encouraged us.

"There's drinks on it though." Andie replied.

The woman made a brushing away motion with her hand. "They've been there and they're empty."

I agreed by putting the empty glasses on the small table and mine on the big one. "Thank you!" I smiled.

Andie thanked her too. When I glanced her way again, I could see that she perhaps wanted to keep talking to us. She had a sort of sheepish smile that told me to continue. "What's your name?"

"Shayla! You?"

"I'm Iman"

"I'm Andie"

From there, we talked for quite a while and Shayla scooted her way closer to us. Andie offered her hand sanitizer as a show of welcoming. Even though she didn't take any, I could tell that Shayla appreciated it. She told us that she's visiting her daughter in the West Village from California, that she's Indian, that she was born and raised in Colorado, that she works in Marketkng, that she's divorced, that she loves visiting NYC, and that she was there with a long time friend who was at the bar getting drinks. Andie and I shared equally. Shayla seemed delighted by our ability to have conversation despite being in our mid (late?) twenties.

Eventually her friend came over and provided us the part of their story that has inspired me to write tonight. He told us that they been pen pals since they were 15 years old and that his cousin introduced them.

"How cute!" I squealed upon hearing that.

I was tickled pink. Pen pals to friends for decades! How absolutely romantic. I decided then and there that I should write letters to people as well. That I should learn how stamps work too! Shayla decided that she wanted to take a picture with me and Andie to show her daughter. We of course obliged. She nestled in between us and had her friend take the photo. She then sat back down in her corner and sent it to her daughter. She looked content as a clam in the sand. Her doe eyes were aglow with youthful excitement as she proved she was still cool to her daughter. While she did that, her friend told us more of his life. How he'd bought in the East Village for basically nothing 30 years ago, how he's a tech entrepreneur, and how he was married to a Korean woman. I asked him to show us his KorIndian kids and he did. They were very interesting! He also revealed that he used to have a crush on Shayla (Who wouldn't? She's a total stunner), but they have really only ever been just friends. It made me think of Ranger and his constant insistence that none of my male friends actually like me as a friend, that they're all attracted to me. I think both can be true and I thought it reassuring that this man was telling me as much. I like to think I'm worth more than the attraction to them.

In the way home, after Andie got off the train and I continued on, I thought more on the pen pal. Hamoodi has always been a virtual pen pal of mine. I think though the instantaneousness of that takes away some of the beauty of a pen pal. I think really that writing a letter, mailing it, and waiting for a response sweetens the bond between people. It is exciting and gives both parties something to look forward to, something to hold. I'm going to begin writing people. I'll be starting with Ashley P because she doesn't answer my calls anyway half the time. She's always working. I'll also be sending letters to my grandmother, my cousin Xel, and one lucky ex boyfriend (I haven't decided which one yet). I think it will be delightful.