5:15 p.m., Friday night, intersection of Houston and Sullivan, New York City.
A smiling OLDER MAN approaches JACK. The older man looks like a typical NYC character–he’s been around. You might see him ordering a half pound of capicola at your local deli. JACK removes his earphones.
OLDER MAN: Excuse me, do you know where a bar called The Room is?
JACK: The Room?
OLDER MAN: The Room. We were just at the Soho Room—that wasn’t it.
JACK: I haven’t heard of it…. (Pause.) And I’ve been to several of the bars around here.
OLDER MAN: I figured.
JACK: (With mock offense:) Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?
OLDER MAN: (Laughing:) No, I just thought, good-looking young man like yourself…
JACK: Okay, okay. Let’s look it up on my device. (Removes smartphone from pocket.) Maybe we’ll find it. (Types “the room bar nyc” into Google. Results come up, top one from trusty New York Magazine bar guide: “A dark, sexy, wine-and-beer bar catering to the chic business-casual crowd.”) “A dark, sexy, wine-and-beer bar…” We’ll see if this is it. (Clicks on the result.) I’m headed to a place called Botanica over here, more of a shot-and-a-beer sort of place. If we can’t find it, you’re welcome to come over there…
OLDER MAN: The thing is, I’ve got the Chairman of [unintelligible] with me, so we’ve gotta…
JACK: (Now noticing the man’s “Mayor’s Office” windbreaker—a driver for the city perhaps? Jack enlarges the New York Magazine bar listing.) This is it! 144 Sullivan Street.
OLDER MAN: 144! She told me fourteen Sullivan Street.
JACK: You needed another 4.
OLDER MAN: Thank you very much! Enjoy your evening.
JACK: You too, friend.
So–was it the mayor himself in the back seat? As in, the CEO of New York?
Also–who is the real Jack Silbert (on Klout) the high-score Jack or the low score Jack? Is there a story in the works there?
Nice work, good-looking young man!
I shan’t hazard a guess who was in the backseat–this ain’t Page Six!
Wheels, what is this Klout thing? I only signed up to vote for you, then today saw I’d gotten one vote, or K, or whatever they call it.
Where was I when this happened? Oh yeah, doing Tequila shots in my office.
Re: Klout
Somehow you show up twice with two different photos, and one of your identities has a much higher score than the other (I’ll call him “evil” Jack). Once you sign up, you’re part of the mix and you get “categories” or “topics” of influence and people can give you points (or “k” as they call it). Don’t compain! Evil Jack is doing great on Klout.
That was a really elaborate pick-up line. Good job calling his bluff!