A Night with Blue Label $20 NIGHT TURNS INTO UNEXPECTED SCOTCH ADVENTURE. It was 2010. I had $20 to my name and really wanted a drink. I drove my Lexus GS 350 to a bar called Café Bleu, walking in to find all the seats filled. After a second pass, I found an empty seat and asked the man beside it if it was taken. He shrugged, so I sat down. The bartender came over, and I ordered my go-to drink: Black on the rocks. It cost $12, and after tipping, I would be left with just $5. I sipped slowly, knowing it was the only drink I’d have that night. About 20 minutes… See more.
It was 2010. I had $20 to my name and really wanted a drink. I drove my Lexus GS 350 to a bar called Café Bleu, walking in to find all the seats filled. After a second pass, I found an empty seat and asked the man beside it if it was taken. He shrugged, so I sat down. The bartender came over, and I ordered my go-to drink: Black on the rocks. It cost $12, and after tipping, I would be left with just $5. I sipped slowly, knowing it was the only drink I’d have that night.
About 20 minutes in, I noticed the man next to me had a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label. Curious, I asked, “Is it your birthday?” He gave me a strange look and said, “Every day is my f’king birthday.” A bit thrown off, I responded with a simple, “Oh.” We both returned to our drinks in silence, but after a few minutes, he asked if I wanted a shot. I wasn’t going to turn down a free drink, so we shared a shot. That broke the ice, and we started talking about business and our careers. I even went out to my car to grab some of the product I was marketing and gave it to him.
We continued drinking together, moving to another bar, where he ordered another bottle of Blue Label, then to another, where he did the same. I was stunned—this guy had just spent $1,200 on scotch in Koreatown, of all places. After a long night of drinking, he asked for a ride to his hotel, which was only three blocks away. As he got out of my car, he dropped $100 on the passenger seat and disappeared into the building. Oh, and he covered my original drink, too.
