The Two-Day Rocky Horror Event

Last week, Mariel, a girl I work with, sent me a text message saying she was bored and wanted to do something. Since it was not a pay week, funds were low, and I was unable to suggest something to do that would be free or low cost, and fun to do late on a Friday night. I told her that I would pencil her in for this Friday, and we would do something fun. During the week, Glee promoted their "Rocky Horror GLEE Show." I thought with Halloween coming and being near NYC, there must be someplace to see the original-"Rocky Horror Picture Show."

I was right, and I asked Mariel if she would be interested in seeing it. She said she would and would mention it to her boyfriend, Anthony. She wanted to pre-game after work and before we went into the City, so I bought beer and waited for her to get off work. She told me that Anthony was sick, and would not be joining us, but when she arrived, he was with her-a pleasant surprise.

We sat in the living room for a while, imbibing rather quickly, because the movie was to start at midnight. At around 11, we left the house. Arriving in the City just before midnight, I had to use the restroom. I found a deli that allowed me to use their facilities, but they were technically for customers only. On my way out, I bought a beer and told the cashier that I would tell my friends how nice he was. We walked down the street to the theater only to find that the show was sold out.

"Sold out? What are my options?"

"Another movie, perhaps?" the ticket agent answered.

"Standing room? Do you have standing room?"

"There is no standing room!" She might have added 'you twit' and I would not have been upset.

"Are there tickets available for tomorrow night?" I asked.

She said that there were, and I asked Mariel and Anthony if they wanted to come back tomorrow. They did, and I bought the tickets. We walked back toward the train station as we decided what to do next. Mariel had to use the restroom, and we were back in front of the deli I had visted earlier, so we went in. The cashier looked at me and I told him that I had indeed, told my friends about him. When Mariel was finished, she and Anthony also made a purchase-a small bag of Swedish Fish. Out on the sidewalk, he opened the bag, and a fish fell out. I looked down, realized it had fallen, and popped that fish right into my mouth. They were shocked that I had picked it up, and Anthony walked away, saying, "We're done!"

I like to think that I mess around a lot, or that I am pretty funny most of the time, but when I cross a line, I don't usually know until someone tells me that we're done. When Anthony said this, I was concerned, of course. I apologized to them, hoping we weren't really done, but not quite sure. Mariel assured me that he was fine, and he did too, so I tried to forget about it.

Mariel had been sipping both the beer we brought from home and the one I bought at the deli, so again she mentioned she had to use the restroom. I recognized the area we were in, and told she and Anthony that I knew of another deli that would let us use the restroom. We walked up Sixth Avenue about a block before I realized we were going the wrong direction.

"We need to turn around and go the other direction," I said, turning and walking into the arms of a policeman who had been following us.

"How old are you?" he asked me.

"Um, I'm thirty-seven, thank you for that!"

"What's in the bag?" he asked, looking into my brown bag. "Where are you from?"

"Jersey City."

"Have you ever had a ticket for drinking?"

"No, sir."

"Come with me. Here's how this is going to work. I'm going to give you a $25 ticket, so finish that beer and throw it out."

"Officer, I can throw it out now."

He said, "You're getting the ticket anyway, so you might as well finish it."

I followed him over to the police van, and waited while he wrote my ticket, drinking-chugging rather, the beer in my bag.

After I got the ticket, I rejoined Mariel and Anthony. We found the deli I had been looking for, and was able to use the restroom. Anthony mentioned a restaurant he knew of near NYU and we found it and went in. We ordered a pitcher of margaritas and three glasses. I would absolutely recommend the restaurant, solely for the chips, home made salsa, and wonderful margaritas, but I have no idea the name of the place. That's how good a night it was.

We finally wrapped up the evening, and made our way home. I was at that point, what you might call schnockered. I have it on good information that Mariel blacked out on the train ride home. Saturday morning, I asked if we were still on for that night's movie and Mariel said we were. Danny also said he would join us. I ask him to go every time I do something, and he often is unable or unwilling to go. I was very excited to hear that he was planning to join us that night.

Later that day, Mariel said she was sick. Hungover, probably...Really, truely sick, maybe...but either way she would not be able to go on Saturday night to see the movie. I scrambled to see if anyone else could go. I asked my sister and her boyfriend if they wanted to go--they were staying in. I asked Ismael and he said yes. We agreed to meet in the City around 11, probably at a bar. When I arrived, shortly after 11:30, Ismael was there and had already had a couple drinks.

Ismael introduced me to a guy he had been talking to named Rocco. I said hell0, and made a little bit of small talk. At one point, Rocco was laughing and looked at me and said, "Ismael was right! You are a funny guy!"

I looked at Ismael and he shrugged and said, "I gave him some background on you."

I ordered a drink, but had to drink it quickly because of the time. As I finished my drink, I asked Rocco if he would like to go see the Rocky Horror Picture Show with us. He said, "Why not? I don't have anything else going on tonight."

I will spare the details of the actual pre-show, movie, and performance, except to say that you should see it. It's popular, so it may be sold out. It usually takes place at midnight, and it lasts for at least a couple hours, so it requires some stamina. The movie doesn't make any sense-even (or especially) if you watch it at home, but watching it with a group of people who are just having fun is all the sense it needs to make.