Spin the Bottle: BabyBoomer Style

I belong to a Social Meet-up Club for single folks 40 and over. When my friend started the club, it was for those 45 and older but younger singles kept sneaking in. She finally decided to go as young as 40, but we had to draw the line there, lest we start admitting those the ages of our own children and nothing ruins a good party like that image.


We have had every kind of social activity one can imagine… from the traditional happy hour to one of the more creative ideas: a toga party. Now these were popular when most of us were in college, but we cared a little less whether the fabric stayed in place in those days. A wardrobe malfunction then was just part of a wild and crazy evening.

We’re older now and wiser…and at least try to keep our inner wild-child from surfacing too often. One of the organizers did provide skin tape like they use on Dancing with the Stars to actually hold crucial parts of our costumes to our bodies. Those of us who had made our own togas definitely needed more tape than members who had purchased professionally created costumes.

The costumes were such fun. People had done their research (or not)… Cleopatra, Caesar, Roman Warriors, and then those with a towel thrown over their shoulder and a stretch of an actual ivy plant wrapped around their heads. Others dutifully donned the traditional bed sheet…some appeared to have been slept on recently.

We dance, played games, ate, and drank the wine but did forgo the primitive grape stomping. There were several drinking games but I knew I had to drive home so I passed and took pictures for those who may not remember the next day. Then came the tried and true…Spin the Bottle. I was in.

I stood eagerly waiting for the bottle to point to me. Time after time, it pointed to others. Finally, I launched a complaint to the head bottle spinner. She apologized profusely and gave the bottle a slight twist making sure it pointed directly to me.

I stepped forward to see who would be the recipient of an early Christmas peck on the cheek. She gave the bottle another spin, let it go and watched it twirl but instead of stopping on my dream man… it…er… pointed directly at…her.

Our eyes locked. We read each other’s minds. “Let’s give these people a show.” My theatre background helped me unleash a flair for the dramatic. We walked around each other keeping our eyes locked. Males in the audience were already letting their imaginations go wild…. and made sounds to accompany those thoughts.

We reached out and slowly touched each other’s faces… She pulled me closer. I produced the most seductive look I could muster without laughing. When I was almost there, she bent me back for the big raunchy finish. But at that very moment, at the height of the drama, we both lost our balance and crumbled to the floor.

Some man in the background shouted, “Oh be still my heart.”..The groaning and moaning told us we had not disappointed our audience.  I heard my friend shout, "Ava, is your back ok?"

Meanwhile, we rolled around trying to assess any physical damage either of our bones or joints… then secondly checked out to be sure we had critical aspects of our costumes still intact.

Our act fell short of the dramatic build up, but from the noises the men were making, I think that’s all their hearts could handle.