We first met at a bar downtown, standing next to each other while trying to the bartender’s attention. It was loud, of course, and crowded and I had been drinking. A lot of vodka that night – a couple of vodka tonics and then some White Russians. By all rights the bartender could have told me that I was cut off and refused to serve me. But I had tipped him $10 with the last drink, so he winked and gave me one more.