Is Thursday the new Friday? Or what is, a burger joint-ed (Y) with a cultural intersection (X)? #GreyMatterSocials (i)

Two friends talk, over beer and burgers one casual Thursday after work - and they mull over all the cultural mishaps they have come across, that brought undaunted and uncalled for cosmic karma, unparalleled.

Or instead of talking, it’s actually a cerebral-drinking game to explore some questions that we take up, to pass the time (or is it just talk talk?) socially: in a “Does your cultural norm actually travel?”. Like, when you left your culture (assuming you went somewhere else to study, or live for work), does everyone else still act in the same way in a cultural middle ground, like how we speak English-as-a-neutral-language?

Here’s a tidbit, of a live snapshot of that grid.

She: When we walk into a bar, do we normally provoke that scene where
He: Or it could just be a drinking pub. Where you know, you meet up with mates, or friends.

Swig.

He: Okay, my turn. When we walk into a bar, do we think “maybe i’ll meet someone i fancy. Or "i would want to ask the bartender something on my mind.”
She: More like, maybe there’s a new drink he can make for me?

Swig.

She: Well, what if you walk into a bar, and see your dream girl, and your mates are keeping you busy all night, do you saunter over and make small talk?
He: Of course.

Swig.

He: “Do you want to grab a beer, and a burger?” Is that a casual invite to a co-worker, or a subtle come on to maybe we can hook up, and remain friends?
She: Hmmm, good question. Probably both. Are we co-workers/ friends or strangers that met in a bar? Are we contextually friends - or do we need to specify that before we actually meet, and have drinks?

Swig.

He: How about if you want dinner like a burger and beer, and it wasn’t all dressed up formally, and it wasn’t really just about the food, and the hanging out?
She: Are people really still that casual? Won’t you want to hang out with your mates, as wing men in a bar? It’s a contextual thing, The Bar (btw), it happens in social theatre, and the bar, happens to be “the stage”.

Swig.

She: But that’s not for everyone. Right?
He: Of course it applies to everyone, everywhere. IF you’re alone in a bar, you are waiting for dates. If you go with mates, you need to stick with them. If not, go with couples. There are cultural nuances to groups and couples, and only the Americans go solo on taverns, talking to bartenders.

She: Really? Hmmm.

Swig.

He: I’m glad we wing man each other. We look like a couple-camo.
She: What’s a couple-camo. Like, you’re actually scouting other people in the room? That’s gross. Who does that? I focussed on you the whole night. That’s rude. Btw.
He: But that’s what being wing men are about - to just camouflage you from everyone who might hit on you, when you’d like to be left alone.
She: Well, i think i hear my uber driver. See ya. (And, thanks for the pints, and the shots.)
He: (scratches his head, and heads for the loo..) Okay, I’m getting too old for this.

This is why Netflix. And why we zone out on YouTube, at mid-day. The socials we have are as varied a myriad of factors as that social grid, and as it compounds, complexities are driving people indoors. No joke. Decades ago, we had taken “to the mattresses” (it’s a Godfather reference meaning: we fight the good fight and hold up our end), but now, we take it literally - to the mattresses in a mid-afternoon snooze. It can get that tiring. (Or just tired, really.)

My ONE trusty solution? Call your mates.

Swagger.

(Warning: Consume with pints of beer, this could be a real scary **Halloween* preview. Or just a light repartée to prepare you for the week to follow, in the form of a sampled dialogue from maybe-a-possible-near-romantic-experience-who-knows, in the Deep Wardrobes of Bar-Nia, Chronicled & DeCoded. Or not.)