A bunch of friends had a get-together. We met at happy hour at Chevy's Tex Mex.

Someplace between ordering my non-alcoholic drink (because I have a two minute arrow straight drive back home, after all!) and wondering if the kid in the distance was one of my college students from two years ago, I had an epiphany.

I don't belong there, really! For me, belonging means being comfortable... being in your element...not having to work too hard.

Suddenly it was apparent to me that bar stools are way too tall for leaning back and relaxing. Let's not even talk about the gravity hazard that increases with each FAB! Or how about the fact that, when you pass a certain age, falling off a bar stool is nothing but a tragedy that you hope doesn't show up on utube.

Conversations don't go well in a room full to capacity when everyone is shouting. If I were in school, I could silence everyone for a moment, remind them to use their indoor voices, and magically everyone would be able to hear each other for at least 15 minutes. Just the fact that the thought fleetingly crossed my mind was scary. Thank goodness for impulse control!

And since when did it become commonplace to crank up the air conditioning so you feel like your flight landed in the North Pole but you are still dressed for Florida? What next? Shall I start carting around an old wool blanket to throw over my knees?

It seemed everyone had an iphone in their hands. They were looking into the screens and tickling the tiny devices like they were born using one. Later, it occurred to me that they were probably texting each other to compensate for the noise level. Modern ingenuity! Gotta love it!

As we paid the check, the three friends at my end of the table discussed how we'd hardly had a chance to catch up in three hours. Who can really hear with all that shivering and precarious leaning with your feet dangling in the air?

We decided to walk over to Barnes and Noble. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! We went to the travel section to pick up books. My friend Pat was going to Hawaii and we chatting in relaxed tones while we thumbed through pages with information about what she could expect.

I was able to show them the PassPorter Guides that I'd helped to write. I always feel at home when my photo and a bio is someplace on a shelf! One day there will be a bunch of them on the bestseller shelf, I just KNOW it!

We settled into nice seats where our feet touched the ground, ordered some designer coffees and sat, surrounded by books and Godiva chocolates. I'd say the same number if people were in the same general amount of space, but the only shouting was the occasional child who wanted a cookie from the display counter.

Are people who hang out in Barnes and Noble somehow different from those who go to happy hour at a Tex Mex place?

After a delightful chat, we were up to speed about the latest.

We took out our various mobile phone devices and fumbled away trying to program our numbers and emails into each others' phones. We made a pact to meet someplace quieter next time.

I'm not sure exactly when I moved from barstools and margaritas to books and macchiatos, but I suppose it is a good thing that I know who I am now!

And thank you Debbie and Pat for being just like me! With a little luck, I'll have people to hang out with at the old folks home some day!