On Saturday Night I went to a piano bar on Power's Ferry. Olives, somethng or other. The dueling pianos were doing their thing and I was just getting settled in when the second Bachelorette party arived.  Sensing the inevitable I quickly requested "Suspicious Minds" , "Anything by Tom Waits" and kicked in an extra five dollars "to not play Brown Eyed Girl". All of this was written, with line item dollar amounts, on a napkin, and delivered to the leftmost pianist withen seconds of the arrival of  the second Bachelorette.  No sooner had he finished reading my request, had the other pianist starting playing the opening bars of the demon song. "Wait, Wait, Wait! I just got a five dollar request to NOT play that song!" Leftie exclaimed. 

"Well, I just got fifteen to play it".

This, after I just paid six dollars to get them to stop playing Britany Spears.  

Now here's the thing. I really don't hate Brown Eyed Girl.  Quite frankly, A piano bar is the one place where that song ought to be allowed. But who pays fifteen dollars to hear it!?   They are going to play it anyway! Paying fifteen dollars to hear that song at a piano bar is just batty.   (Alex, provide an analogy please. Mine are all running towards the Bawdry)

So I left.  The rules is the rules, and my rule is to leave directly.

I got in the car and drove in expanding circles lookng for a new bar. Dave called and invited me to East Andrews, so I ducked back into the piano bar to close my tab, and then headed to Buckhead.   While I was waiting for my bill, Rich told me they played the song for twenty minutes.

I reallize a few of you are probably thinking that the Brown Eyed Girl Ritual is evidence of me trying to hard   (Heck I shouldn't put it quite so neatly, y'all who think that probably wouldn't have been able to put your thoughts into such precise words. And now I've stung myself) .

But at the end of the day, what are the odds that the best place for you to be is a place where woemn are cooing to that song?  Am I being unfair? Yes.   But the ritual has never caused any harm.  Except for that time in Savanna when Dave and I wern't allowed back into the bar, where we had just left the two sisters we had driven a few hundred miles with on an ambitious double date.  That weekend didn't end so well.