Episode 7
Happy Hour Is The New Blue Plate Special!
Happy Hour the new Blue Plate Special!
We Seenagers still love to party, we just prefer to do it a little earlier than we used to.
Ok, like a lot earlier. Like 4 o'clock works.
Conveniently that's when Happy Hour usually starts at most bars around the country.
That's pretty much the time the ol' time Blue Plate Specials we used to make fun of started too.
Yes, those same Blue Plate Specials that in our minds were for blue-haired old ladies and senior 'shufflers.'
There aren't many Blue Plate Specials left these days, but for us Seenagers, Happy Hour is a perfect replacement.
It works basically the same way, at the same time, at the same price minus the blue plate with compartments for the main dish and some' sides.'
We Seenagers are way cooler than those old blue plate people were. Hey some of us might even have blue streaks in our hair, but that's intentional.
We belly up to the bar rather than shuffle but do hope for comfortable stools. Preferably with back support.
Oh, and we like foot rails on both the bar bottom and the stool bottom because balance is key for comfort.
We order half-priced drinks and appetizers until time runs out like a game show at six or seven and before the 'crowds' come.
Happy Hour like the ol' Blue Plate special, not only helps save a couple bucks but also keeps us from having to drive home too late in the dark.
We Seenagers don't want to drive too far in the dark unless we have to, so local Happy Hours are always appealing.
Now that people are vaccinated boosted and venturing out more, I've noticed more and more of our fellow Seenagers enjoying Happy Hour.
It's a great way to be reminded how much fun life used to be when people weren't afraid to be near other humans.
Plus we still get home with enough energy left to catch up on our latest Netflix binge or if 'coupled' to fool around - which is usually a toss-up decision.
For single Seenagers whether they drink alcohol or not, Happy Hour is always a friendly way to enjoy new connections of all ages.
Basically Happy Hour is the new Saturday night out on any day.
Which is good because every day these days feels like 'anyday,' but that's another show. Enjoy this latest episode.
Transcript
happy hour
PM •:SUMMARY KEYWORDS
happy, hour, people, friends, plate, wrote, home, dave, eat, drink, talking, drive, hysterical, called, story, blue, appetizers, played, bar, fun
SPEAKERS
charlie ponger, Charlie and Debbie, Debbie Charlie, Debbie Nigro, Charlie Ponger
Charlie and Debbie:Hey everyone, welcome to The Official Seenagers, why eating the microphone?
Debbie Nigro:He said get closer and closer. Yeah, so I got closer,
Charlie Ponger:I'm Charlie ponger
Debbie Nigro:How are we doing today? We're gonna talk about happy hour being the new blue plates.
Charlie Ponger:But before we do that, okay, we're gonna do shoutouts Okay, first one is to add Wilbur. Wilbur. ,
Debbie Nigro:Yeah love that name. I know reminds me of Mr. Ed, right? But why are we doing shout out? Oh, these are the beautiful people who
Charlie and Debbie:have written they've written and communicated with us. Yeah, we love you guys. It's no fun unless we all together last night. All right, so so people who have been communicating and writing and participating, we love you and thank you. And so
Charlie Ponger:and so Ed Wilber we hope you're doing okay. Ed wrote into us and said you know he was in the hospital. Oh, right. And we helped change his whole attitude. thanked us Yeah.
Debbie Nigro:Wait, yeah, I hope he's okay.
Charlie Ponger:Yeah, he's okay. Yeah, actually send another note and said He's fine now. Thank you so much.
Debbie Nigro:You know, Joe Namath was talking about getting hurt over time right and talked about how his knee injury got 1000 years ago still bugs me but he's like, gotta move on. Because look, if it's not a major organ you got to get just keep moving. Play hurt.
Charlie Ponger:So Michael, Michael Keegan's another fellow who wrote he wrote a blog for us. Thank you, Michael. And Michael is the lead singer of great local band called The Boneheads. He lives out in like Montana or so I don't know where
Debbie Nigro:that was related to the Hammerheads.
Charlie Ponger:But Michael wrote the story about a where you had to come out of a gig and kick someone's door and if you haven't read that one window, I mean, hell, that one's hysterical. Stevie Townson, who is a very well known drunk drummer around here actually played the play to the drums with Deion shot. He wrote a blog. Thank you, Sam Harris. Now this isn't so timely, but it's his birthday today. By the time you hear probably it's not gonna be his birthday. But
Debbie Nigro:if you replied a year from now when it's evergreen, yeah, a birthday right.
Charlie and Debbie:Sam wrote this hysterical story about hitchhiking with his friend Dwight through California. Judy wrote in, and we blog and these are all blogs by the way, you guys got to read them. They're hysterical. Judy wrote a goofball story about being on an airplane. I love it.. it's so friggin funny and Tor Newcomer played, played with Ronnie Spector. And he wrote a story of so cool, unbelievable and how he played it the 21 Club and almost knocked all the friggin one of those horse jockeys over that run down the staircase. Yeah. And then there's Toni Chiapetta. I'm gonna end it with Tony Chiapetta Why is your phone ring? Because it's El-ahla Madone, Sandy Piro gonna love that one. Toni Chiapetta wrote a story about how her dog was named Nelli after her aunt's torpedo tits, got to be kidding me? Right and honest to god.
Debbie Nigro:oh my gosh, I can see all the Playtex bras. Yeah, she was so wrapped. Yeah, you went to hug an aunt back then. And you and you had to call Dr. unblu. Yeah, he got stabbed. Yeah, yeah. And then when they wanted a really big bear hug, they kill you
Charlie Ponger:So that's it. That's our little segment of Thank you. Thank you. Thank you guys for writing in. We absolutely love it. These stories are awesome.
Debbie Nigro:I sounded phony just now and I said thank you. You did you like that? I meant to be really honest. And appreciative.
Charlie and Debbie:It really came off as like a phony bastardad. Oh my god. I don't even like a valley girl
Debbie Nigro:Valley. Yeah, I don't I don't have a stupid phony bone bone in my butt.
Charlie Ponger:No you clearly you do not
Debbie Nigro:I know. You know what people can't believe? What about this podcast? It's just how authentic we just share it. We're just like, almost like we don't know. The mics are on.
Charlie Ponger:Well, we're so used to being behind the mic. It like doesn't even matter. Right?
Debbie Nigro:Well, the fact is that until it's over with you like did I just tell them that? I want to talk about happy hour being the new blue plate.
Charlie Ponger:What do you mean a blue plate special? Where'd this come from?
Debbie Charlie:Came from going. Going out?
Charlie Ponger:This is out of the blue this blue plates special.
Debbie Nigro:yes. I have the whole story about the blue plate special wise. The blue this
Charlie Ponger:is kind of grossed me out. Like
Debbie Charlie:no, no, no, no, it's cool. You see, back in the day. Yeah. And it was a long time ago. In order to you know, get get people to come out and spend some money but not so much money people to save money will go early to restaurants where they offer you a blue plate that had compartments and you got like a meat and three sides. And it was not aware of that. Yeah, that's what it was. It was like take it or leave it kind of thing but very inexpensive. And I always thought about blue haired ladies when I thought about the blue hair, blue plates. Knit up. Right. But that kind of went the wayside. There's only a few places that's don't have that. What would his become? And he just hit me like up but like last week is what's called Happy Hour. Yeah, and the reason I know this is because this is what I want to do. I want to go to happy hour Dave and I or my girlfriend, mostly Dave and I would go to we'd like to sit at the bar loved sitting at the bar during happy hour where drinks are half price. Yeah, they have like, you know, bar specials, and we hang out and we laugh and we we get to leave by I don't know. We're home by 10 o'clock. Yeah. Oh, he's out. He's Irish. He was always going. Oh, can we go one more place? And I'm usually driver. He's just getting warmed up. Yeah, I'm designated drivers. Does Dave have a hollow leg? Dave. Dave can drink beer with the best of him. No. Yeah. And beer and bourbon beer and bourbon. bearberry. So it gets very festive. He's a very fun, he should meet some of my other friends festive Irishman.
Debbie Nigro:Oh, yeah, So but I'll say okay, I'm driving tonight. And which case, you know, he just let's let's say, but he's very responsible. He won't do that. If he's driving. Oh, and I'm mom.
Charlie Ponger:So he's an actual Seenager then because as a teenager, you wouldn't be responsible.
Debbie Nigro:Right. So but I noticed that my friends and lots of our contemporaries, really like happy hour, they're in the same ilk. And I we were making plans last week with friends business friend, who's a lifelong friend, also and we kept wanting to meet his wife and you know, get together and it was a random let's go what do you do? And lady goes, well, we're going to happy hour I go, Oh, my gosh, we love happier or he goes we sit at the bar, go sit away. And he goes, and this was up till seven o'clock.
Charlie and Debbie:Like are you ordering like two or three drinks be just two minutes before happy hour ends? Just get out price for yes. Yeah. I know. I know.
Debbie Charlie:It's only for the game of it. Really? Yeah, I find that I'm taking pictures of appetizers. Like it's food porn. No serious IVR if you look at my phone photos, like every third day, Happy Hour appetizer that was so gorgeous that I had to pick
Charlie Ponger:let me ask you a question. Because I love this. Instead of having a full meal. You order like four or five appetizers?
Debbie Nigro:Much more fun way of doing it right and back they go. Do you want to sit at a table? Like no, no sit here and maybe talk to some people that you've never met before? That's a stranger talker.
Charlie Ponger:A stranger talker. I've gotten in trouble for being
Debbie Nigro:a stranger to love stranger talking. It's so much more fun because Dave mine that you're a stranger talker now and that's why he's my boyfriend and why we'll be doing he
Charlie and Debbie:does he enjoy being a stranger talker as well, to a degree.
Debbie Nigro:Yeah, he don't like people as much as me. But I mean, he does. But he is very interesting. And yes, he'll always be charming and go along and he lets me be me. And we ended up having a lot of fun together. But let me tell you, there's a reason. I broke up with a guy. Because I was talking to people at a bar. He turned his head the other way gave me like, are
Charlie Ponger:mad at you?
Debbie Nigro:I was like, really? This did not work. Anyway, me too. Black. Back to the blue. Black to the blue. Yeah, but you know, eating off a blue plate can make you thin.
Charlie Ponger:Get the hell out of here.
Debbie Nigro:Yeah, your brain can't take it. It goes. I'm not hungry. Oh, yeah. It's a psychological by all blue plates. And red. What about red? Same trick. Real brain can't do it. Like you just think
Charlie Ponger:what part of your brain says oh, I want you to have a white plate. I'll just keep eating
Debbie Nigro:well, if you look at food on a beautiful white place. Oh, yeah, I have big square white plates. I guess I could start dinner at five and finish at 12. Yeah,
Charlie Ponger:you would think restaurants will have blue and red plates then? No, they want you to eat. Oh, I would want to feed him less make more money that way.
Debbie Nigro:No, no, no, but it's a great dieting tip. If anybody's trying to lose weight you pick.
charlie ponger:This is really psychologically weird crap.
Debbie Charlie:It's absolutely don't even look at the phone. No, no, I won't tell you how happy our began. I know this started in the Navy. Why? Yeah. You know, nobody really knows when Happy Hour started. But it's traced back to the United States Navy in the early 20th century. And there was a weekly entertainment program called Happy Hour that was created aboard the USS Arkansas to help relieve the boredom of being at sea can imagine a boy they were right. And all kinds of more than just bored. Yeah, they were like losing it. So they had all these like the boxing and wrestling matches and music and dancing. I don't know who but they became more popular. And by the end of World War one happy hours were being held throughout the entire Navy. And then over the years. The term became more about drinking than entertaining. And according to a post article, a Saturday night Evening Post article back like, Oh, that was late 50s. Yeah. They were talking about this term used for afternoon drinks in a bar, right? And then it went I just went on the concept just came into its own right around prohibition. And when people used to do with happy hours during Prohibition, because you couldn't do it in a bar, have their house cocktail hour, they'd meet people and they'd create these cocktail hours and it just kept going. Oh, yeah. This guy
Charlie Ponger:you know you're talking about this stuff and I don't know how a guy at 18, 19, 20 years old could be on a boat with a bunch of other guys but I couldn't do it now. I would go crazy.
Debbie Nigro:I think I'm always amazed when you know if you've ever seen that the Navy ships out in San Diego I had the great pleasure seeing you know everybody in their in their in their uniforms lining up on the boat as my mother was me when I just like look at you know, New York has Fleet Week. ,
Charlie Ponger:Yeah, know. I've heard all about it. And I've actually had women have told me stories about fleet week, that I can't even tell on the air.
Debbie Charlie:The greatest business card I ever saw true story when I was doing morning drive radio in New York City on WPIX I was the bell of the ball, of New York when I was there, I was happening back then. I used to have a lot of comedians come on from Caroline's and you know, Jerry Seinfeld sat in the studio with me we did a whole his whole bit on little sock angers friggin Ryan. But there was a female comedian. Yeah and Carrie Snow. And I'll never forget her business card as long as I live, was 7000 sailors can't be wrong. haha good for her, right? Have somebody just go back to happy hours. Yeah, who played special our generation doesn't want to be up till 12 o'clock or be out till one o'clock in the morning. Doesn't do it anymore.
Charlie Ponger:I never really I really liked that, you? Where you like that when you were younger?
Debbie Nigro:. I used to go out and 11 Come on five in the morning.
Charlie and Debbie:Now if you asked my buddies I was always like the first one to go home really? Always. Yeah, well myself and Paddyboy nothing good happens after midnight nothing nothing got you want to tell love I
Debbie Nigro:can't tell you how... can we returned to the blue plate...
Charlie Ponger:now you got me thinking like the next time I go out whatever that is because I'm a hermit in the wintertime. But the next time I go out I'm going to be looking for blue or red plates and go What the hell Well, Happy Hour do they serve them like that now?
Debbie Nigro:No, I'm just likening the concept early and getting a deal to happy hour which you know, we all have deals getting a deal going out early and then you know wrapping up by whatever time and then getting home and couples will go home the married couples after happy hour will go home and drink more. More bourbon, have more wine have zero Yeah, fool around, have some fun or go home, drink more have whatever, you know, whatever they do smoke and then watch movies or whatever.
Charlie Ponger:When You have children though. I like the whatever part I know where that's gonna go!
Debbie Charlie:And then they have children sometimes at home, they have to go home and be parents again. Older boomers and midlife folk, you know, just fine. I
Charlie Ponger:I think it's a bit of a natural progression. Because you brought up children right? Right. So when you have kids, you're not really out. You can't go out you can't it unless you just want to be you know you unless you just love the fact that you're going to be in so much pain the next morning.
Debbie Nigro:Well, you want to go out and meet friends and pretend we...
Charlie Ponger:gotta go home early because those kids are getting up at Oh dark 100 Right. And also you
Debbie Nigro:have babysitter's to drive home or somebody has to be home
Charlie Ponger:and kind of get used to it. But it is...
Debbie Nigro:a really fun thing to meet friends gather all right.
Charlie Ponger:Have you ever met anyone at happy hour that you ended up becoming friends with and ended up you know, hanging out with like close friends?
Debbie Nigro:Well, I had a crazy story just whipping in my head right now just I don't know where this has come I have though. Yeah, I mean, I have a million friends from going to happy hour, really, exchange cards
charlie ponger:like go to their house and make dinner and all that sort of crap that kind of friend or is nobody's....
Debbie Nigro:gone anywhere in the last couple of years surely I went beyond that. I don't know. That's another thing about happy hour Yeah, nobody went anywhere during the pandemic What did they do stay home and happy hour that Zoom happy hour
Charlie Ponger:clearly in no way I could do that that million I'm under a rock?
Debbie Charlie:millions did zoom happy hours I never practiced I didn't I didn't want her to but you know it's not the same but we try it people tried but what I find now with the you know now that things are lifting and feeling a little bit lighter and more people are vaccinated is that you know you could go out and be in public if your vaccine if you feel good about yourself or not however you choose to live your life and you find that there's a little more conversation going on not so much isolation. There was a time not too long ago maybe... Take a breath. Am I still talking is talking? I get excited.
14:23
Holy Christ on our mountain slow down just a little
Debbie Nigro:okay you snore
Charlie Ponger:Yeah, you you guys. She kills me. Go ahead. I was I was chipping your cubes. Go ahead.
Debbie Nigro:I didn't know about chipping? We're worried to take piece off my hips. chipping away,
Charlie Ponger:you start to get warmed up. The more you talk, the faster you get going. And it's a good thing. I've known you forever because I could follow you.
Debbie Nigro:I gotta tell you some work. I always thought someday I would how I would check out his plan. Yeah, like the idea of walking down the street just self combust. I really thought that's how Yeah, like like
Charlie Ponger:the the, how is it that you are able your brain just does this you start out and the more you look the more you start going faster and faster. Faster. unbelievable.
Debbie Nigro:It's because I've gotten a passing lane no blinkers. No blinkers, honestly, I met a girl sure it's mental illness but alright, I want to talk about can I tell you my pandemic?
Charlie Ponger:What can I just tell you about the I met a friend at happy hour. I'm so happy I teed it up for you to say, so. Her name is Tracy. She's from Vietnam. She can't say my name Charlie. So she calls me Chachi right? It's hysterical I love her to death. And because of that, yes, all my young friends that are like in their 30s you know their 30s None of them call me Charlie anymore.
Charlie and Debbie:And everybody calls me Chachi Chachi shots I gotta tell you about the happy good with Dave and I used to do is get little things a bourbon, drive to the water, get crackers and cheese. And wherever there was water we pull over for a couple hours and have our own happy hour. Yeah. And then just go back to the house. That was really psycho but it helped us cope right. Okay, then was a phase where we tried to like maybe venture a little bit out masks and everything in there had certain bars there were open had partitions between people there, right. I was I went to one of those. That's was psycho. Yeah. And now there's no partitions. Yeah, everybody's, you know, a lot of the bartenders are still masked. Yeah. And we never know what to do. We always walk in a bar with a mask on and then you take it off almost immediately cuz you're gonna be eating and drinking. The whole I know. It's so confusing, right? It's ridiculous. But anyway, I just think that happy hours are what most of this generation is our age group joining doing teenagers because AOA, you don't want to drive too far in the dark. You don't want to go too far from your house. You don't want to go too far we drink you don't want to drink and drive. That's not cool, right? You don't you can't see at night. So that's another problem. You can't get over and we go again. Whatever you know, and then you want to eat a little this little that because you ate a little this little that and then when you go home to eat again. I'm a perpetual picker. You
Charlie Ponger:are Yeah, so you'll have happy hours. Oh, you like the crunch? Yes. Dave do the same thing.
Debbie Nigro:Now I'm a bigger cruncher. But do we eat again? Later on? He sneaks peanut butter sandwiches. Oh, he's big on sneaking peanut butter.
Charlie and Debbie:Jelly too?. Ridiculous. It's just peanut butter. Yeah. You really is Irish, isn't it?
Debbie Nigro:Oh my god.
Charlie Ponger:What? he's such a great cook?
Debbie Nigro:He's a chef by Chef, by trade. Yeah, he makes some good stuff. That's okay. We got to have Dave come on the show one day because love to have him. He's so much fun. And I think that our relationship late in life Love is a good throw ever lucky. Yeah. To other people who you know, want to be helpful. There still be something beautiful for them. You never know. The key to our relationship. That one's very important. Yeah, a great sense of humor. He even says, Man, it's the sense of humor. We just never stopped laughing.
Charlie and Debbie:Isn't that nice? Never stop. Do you guys argue?
Debbie Charlie:No, no, no, we really don't. I mean, we get annoyed sometimes. We make it funny. Yeah, you gotta bring him coffee in bed. Yeah, the whole thing? No, you really do bring them coffee. Me again? Yeah. All right. You got to take a picture of that trip on my ostrich feathers scar. Oh,
Charlie Ponger:we're gonna thank everyone for listening right now,
Debbie Nigro:you guys. I hope that we amused you a little bit. And we hope to see you maybe we'll have a teenager's Happy Hour somewhere that'd be
Charlie Ponger:very cool that's so funny that you said that I was thinking of that yesterday
Charlie and Debbie:cuz everybody will be up yeah and then they'll go and then we don't just stay longer and maybe we'll even do a live show from there I live happy hours teenagers the official senior now now we're talking turkey right now we're talking would
Charlie Ponger:that be hysterical? We'll even get like Steve Townsend and those guys and Michael Keegan and Tor Newcomer to play.
Debbie Nigro:When you have a name like Newcomer anything ever old? All right. See you guys next time. Stay Oh, yeah, be safe.
Charlie Ponger:Yeah. Thank you for listening. Bye
