Every month, the women on the block rotate taking turns setting up get-togethers at different restaurants for the neighbors, always on a Thursday night.

The emails go out, with a request to R.S.V.P. to the month’s organizer so that reservations can be made at the chosen restaurant.

From what heard, the last three places chosen were wildly expensive fish and seafood restaurants.  Last month, the chosen venue was our local neighborhood diner.  For this month, February, it was the Mexican restaurant down the street.

The word I heard from a most reliable source was that another email went out a few days ago, reminding people about this month’s dinner at the Mexican restaurant.  Evidently, little to no people R.S.V.P.’d.

My guess is that this monthly block party at restaurants is a bust.  You see, this routine get-together was going on for awhile before the scamdemic hit.  Then the women decided that staying home was best.  So, for fourteen months, there were no neighbor get-togethers at restaurants.  Then they decided last October to reinstitute them.

Well, I’ll bet the neighbors just don’t care anymore.

I know that I don’t.

©2022 Colcannon Metropolis, excerpt from “Dining at Chez Ersatz”