If it seems sketch, you probably shouldn't go in

I just got home from an . . . interesting night. Sarah, my buddy out here, some new friends and I all went to the Met (that's the Metropolitan Museum of Art, for all you who were as confused as I was). We wandered around tons of exhibits. That place is huge. You could spend a week there and still not see everything. It's also very easy to get lost. I may have spent more time talking than looking, but hey. I had fun.

We decided to go get some dessert when the museum closed. One of the girls found a restaurant on her phone, but it turned out to be a swanky, upper class type of place (welcome to the Upper East Side). We figured we weren't dressed well enough to even get a table, so we wandered down the street looking for somewhere else. The wind was freezing and it was dark, so when we walked past an old diner we thought we'd give it a try. After all, we really didn't want to be looking much longer. Besides, diners are generally family restaurants, right? There were florescent lights, leather booths, and barstools. How American can it get? We walked in. I immediately regretted that decision. First off, there were only men in the diner. Old men at the counter, young men in the booths. We wondered for a moment if we had come to a gay bar. That theory was quickly discarded when we realized that every one of them had stopped talking and stared at us. I don't mean casually looking. I mean full-on, turn and watch the girls go choose a booth and sit down. Openly look at their bodies. Very creepy.


By the time we realized something was wrong, it was already too late to turn back. I don't mean that we couldn't leave, I just mean that we didn't. We had already ordered, and the situation wasn't exactly unsafe. It was just . . . strange. And a little scary. Good tip - never show you're scared. Ever. Act like everything will be okay and it generally turns out fine. We were talking in low voices about our experience so far, and realized that we each thought the same thing. I thought I was overreacting since I'm new to the city, but the other girls agreed that something was going on. However, it's unlikely something would happen to us there. There were four of us, and a big window looking out onto the street. We were okay. Just nervous.

You know, we probably should have left. After all, there was no reason to stay. The food was overpriced and not very good. The waiter reminded us at least twice that the restaurant would be closing soon. The guy two booths away kept interjecting into our conversation. We ignored him, but he literally watched us the entire time except when he was yelling at the management for overcharging him. As we were paying, the guy at the register told us the kid needed help and was schizophrenic. And the whole time, the men kept staring at us. Barely even talking to each other. Listening to our conversation. Obviously, we ate fast.


As we left, I checked behind us several times. Not like I thought they would follow us, but still. The whole situation was a little strange. We talked about it afterwords, and one of the girls said that there was this weird vibe as soon as we went in. I have no idea why, and I really don't care. But I can tell you this: I will never go into that restaurant again. NEVER.