Good news - a sociological experiment

I've got some good news, and we thought posting it on this blog would be an interesting sociological experiment.

Yesterday KC and I spent a beautiful day in New York City - possibly my last for a long time, sadly. We went up to the Cloisters specifically to see The Cloisters Cross. I've just finished a book by Thomas Hoving about the cross and its acquisition by the Met. Speaking of Hoving, I started another book of his called Tutankhamun: The Untold Story. Sensational title aside, I'm really enjoying taking yet another look at the Carter excavation of Tut's tomb.

After the Cloisters, we went down to the Met's main building to check out a few special exhibits. Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy was totally absurd; we should have been clued in by Giorgio Armani's sponsorship. Seriously, I didn't know ithyphallic was a real word - thank God KC's cell phone has internet access.


Somewhat less hilarious were the astounding pietre dure exhibit, Jeff Koon's whimsical sculptures on the roof, and the highly informative exhibit on Chinese paintings. I'd been wanting to see the Chinese exhibit since last year, and it was lovely.

After getting thrown out of the museum at closing time (this seems to happen to us a lot!) we headed down to my old stomping ground for dinner at the Union Square Cafe. I've wanted to try this restaurant for years, and KC had gotten reservations as a surprise for me. (Eventually we had the calamari with spicy anchovy mayo, the osso buco, and lasagne with foie gras, squab, and some sort of mild cherry sauce, if you're interested.)

There was another surprise too. After we were seated, the waitress came over, greeted us, and asked if we wanted "bottled or local water?"

I smirked. On one of our very first dates at the Lawrenceville Inn (oddly converted now to a private-parties-only establishment), a waitress who couldn't have been more than 14 asked me the same questions. I laughed through the entire meal - what a ridiculous euphamism for tap water! I told our waitress that local water was just fine, then jokingly asked KC if he'd paid her to say that as a joke.

The waitress returned with two glasses and a metal pitcher. She plunked them down on the table and walked away. What the hell kind of restaurant is this? I thought. You have to pour your own water here? At these prices?

KC and I looked at each other for a minute over the table, and then he said, "Pour the water."

I lifted the water pitcher. The damn thing was empty to boot!

I set it back down and said (stupidly), "There's no water."

Another pause. Finally KC said, "Just look inside."

And of course, there was a small box tucked down in the bottom of the empty pitcher - and the box held a ring.

My pre-emptive apologies to any of you who felt this news should have been delivered in person, over the phone, or at the very least in a private email. We thought it'd be interesting to post this story here and see what happens.

And I said yes, incidentally.