A glimpse at the good life

Late last week, B mentioned that his boss asked if we would like to join him and his wife for dinner and a basketball game on Saturday. Since we were no longer going to Peoria to help my sister move (she moved on Thursday so didn't need us on the weekend), we didn't really have a good excuse not to go. I'm not much of a schmoozer and usually feel uncomfortable surrounded by people I don't know. I don't really know B's boss (he also happens to be my boss' boss) and I've only talked to his wife briefly at the Christmas party. However, it would probably benefit B's (and possibly my) career to get to know them better.

We met them downtown MKE for dinner. It was a new Thai restaurant near their condo. First odd thing... We are looking through the menus and the Boss starts organizing what we are going to order. The menu had too many options to choose from so he thought we should just ask the waitress for some recommendations. Ok with me. The boss and his wife were looking to order similar dishes that they eat at other Thai restaurants, I think to do a comparison. I mentioned that I wanted to try some of their curry. B didn't really voice any preference. So the boss ordered for everyone. This is what I found odd.

Next odd thing... There were jalapenos in the fried rice and in the curry dish. I've never seen jalapenos in Thai cooking before. Can't say I'm a fan. I soon noticed a new odd thing... The boss (after ordering for all of us) hardly ate anything! I started wondering if he was on some sort of Atkins diet because he mentioned that he doesn't eat rice. This I also found odd considering he loves sushi and he married a Japanese woman.

Finally the meal was over. We made our way to the Bucks game. I knew this was going to be a challenge because I do not follow basketball at all. I know B mentioned they were court-side seats but I didn't know exactly where they were going to be. Let's just say, if I leaned forward, I could touch one of the Buck's players. Yes, we were not only court-side but also right next to the bench. I guess these are the season tickets that our company's CEO uses (he's a big basketball fan) and since the IT group helped our company make the first quarter's numbers, this was a little thank you gift.

The game was pretty good, even though the Bucks lost. I actually paid attention. It was also interesting to see all the stuff happening on the bench. Did you know that they recycle all the warm-up outfits? EEEWWWW! When a player on the bench gets called into the game, they start taking off the long warmup pants and long-sleved shirt they were wearing. It's kind of funny to watch one of the towel boys chasing after a player as they strip, trying to catch the falling clothes. The towel boy then folds up the outfit and places it in a bin. As a player comes in off the court, they grab an outfit from the bin and hand it to them. I did not notice any specific name on any of the outfits so it's a random handout. I thought this was a bit gross but realized that most guys wouldn't care anyway.

I tried a few times to start up a conversation with the boss' wife but it didn't go far. She would respond to my questions or comments but that was it. I felt a bit awkward but shrugged it off. I'm not great at small talk and I was actually interested in the game. It was hard not to be when they were so up close and personal.

After the game, we went back to the boss' condo for some drinks. Their place is like a museum. The boss is an avid antique collector so he took us on a tour. I also got to meet their 2 yellow labs. The younger one's personality remind me of my puppy so I was instantly in love. This also turned into a common topic that the wife and I could talk about - dogs. While the guys were playing pool, the wife and I played with the dogs and swapped quirky dog stories.

It was an odd evening but ended on a good note.