"This one's on me."

Times men have bought me drinks:

{In the U.S.} I went to a crepe party with a bunch of international students. It was my first time meeting any of them. We bonded over exchange and told each other stories about language mistakes; like the time I told my host mom that I really had to go pee when I thought I was saying that I wanted to spend time as a buddhist nun, or the time the armenian girl thought that focus was pronounced "Fuckus." Eventually the party was going to move to a bar. "I'm underage" I said. "So this is when I head home." "No, No, this bar doesn't card. Come with us!"

It didn't take much convincing.

I walked straight through the "No Minors Allowed" sign and sat down at their table. I was sitting with my roommate C and maybe four or five European men. As we sat, drinking some beer and chatting, a man came over, plopped a beer down in front of me said "This one's on me" and walked away so fast I didn't even see his face. We stared at the pale ale in front of me. A business card was hanging magically to the outside of the glass. The guys looked at me, at the beer and in the direction the man came from, and then back at me. The guy on my left said "I've been coming to this bar at least once a week this whole year and I've never seen that happen." The guy on my right said "I'm from France and I've never actually seen that happen anywhere" and my roommate looked at me, looked at them, laughed and said "Oh, men lose their minds around her. I wouldn't worry about it."

The guy on my left looked at me again. His brow furrowed and he said, "You're eighteen. This is the first time a guy has bought you a drink... right?"

I smiled." Well... no. It isn't."

"But, but where?"

"In Thailand" I paused "... and Israel."

{In Thailand} I went to a rock concert at a bar spur of the moment. I sat in the front row and I remember making eyes at the drummer (he was pretty cute, not so great of a musician). After the show ended, he showed up at the table with the rest of his band and bought us whiskey and soda. Turns out his brother owned the bar but it was still a nice gesture. He also bought me a rose from one of the girls on the street and his friend, the guitarist, was pissed because he was going to buy me a rose, but the drummer got there first.

{In Israel} I was in Tel Aviv with a bunch of American Jews on a Sunday night. We figured that the bars would be lame but it didn't matter because there were so many of us. We could bring a party anywhere we went. So we headed down the street from our hotel to a bar and invaded. The bar was packed with americans. I sat at one end with a couple of my israeli friends and down at the other end of a bar, a man was sitting having a cigarette. I smiled at him and ten minutes later, I turned around and he was right next to me. " What's your drink of choice?" He asked. "Arak and Grapefruit juice." I answered. It's an Israeli favorite and absolutely delicious. He was impressed that I knew it. "I'll buy you one."

His roommate was the bartender and they both had the same name. We joked and drank. I learned that he was in law school and he had served his military duty already. Everyone was dancing and singing Karaoke and so I said "Come dance with me! Come dance with me, please?"

He said "Not yet, not yet. Let me finish my drink first."

He finished his drink and I said "Now will you come dance with me?"

He flashed me a smile and said "....I will if you kiss me first."

I had had a more than a couple drinks and I thought to myself "One kiss? What's the harm. He's cute, and smart and I just want to dance."

I leaned in and kissed him. I looked at him, "Now will you dance?"

I stood up. Then he stood up. He only came up to my chest.