The Sky Room

Summers in NYC for the 21 and over crowd consist of rooftops, all white affairs, and nights that equate amazing memories a year from now. I personally wanted to spend my summer afternoons in a fraudulent way; attending after work events although my current employment status was null-in-void. I decided to go to The Sky Room alone being that summer was winding down and we were already in the second week of August. Independently attending this event after being rejected by one of my friends after she learned the cost to get in would be five bucks(no judgment here times are hard) would be empowering or so I thought. I walked into the venue and went straight to the bathroom. I replaced the flip-flops on my feet with the unusually high wedges I always bring to events that call for height and a more adult feel. I tipped the bathroom attendant and walked to the bar with ten minutes to spare and to enjoy the free drinks. I asked the natural hair sistah to the left of me what she was drinking because it looked delish. She responded “ Bicardi Dragon Berry with Cranberry juice and yes it is delish” She also suggested that I ordered a couple of shots with the drink so I could be really “nice.” With five minutes left to spare I attempted to get the bar tenders attention to no avail, he blatantly passed by me three times. So my natural haired friend got his attention for me and he responded“in a second.” Three minutes left to spare and the bartender’s overseer of a boss closed down the open bar exclaiming her watch said 7pm. Now as a person who keeps her phone in hands at all times I found this hard to believe because my clock said 6:57. This lady was a trick and a liar and I hated her. It was official I was not feeling the sky room at all.

 My natural haired sistah-friend and her girlfriend offered to by me a drink but I declined. No use in them paying $15 for a drink for me when I hardly even knew them. I walked away and sat on a couch in front of a window that overlooked the beautiful New York City skyline. The photographer took a few pics of me and I waited for Danielle to come save me from my misery. Seeing D walk through the Sky Room doors made my day. I was reassured that I wouldn’t have to go through this experience alone any longer. We went upstairs to the bar and once again the two bartenders paid us no mind…I began to wonder were we invisible? I proposed to D that we saved our money and go to BBQs after. I then led her to the rooftop deck which encompassed a sea of young professionals in their mid-late twenties networking and enjoying the atmosphere. 

Gradually things began to look up. I immediately looked for seats by the bungalow but there were none so me and D decided to sit along a ledge next to a lady who seemed harmless and nonchalant. However once we sat down she exclaimed “Someone is sitting there” so Danielle responds “ I will get up when they return” in which he did but sat somewhere else to his girlfriends dismay.  One more awkward thing and I made up my mind that it would be time to GO! Me and D talked and looked around at all the wonderful array of people there ranging from Natural Haired sistahs, to the bald wall street suit and tie type to the blonde haired blue eyed fashionistas, diversity at its best. 

When we finally noticed a seat open by the bungalow we caught it before anyone else could. We took pictures and enjoyed the beautiful summer breeze until we were met with out last straw. A waitress approached us and asked if we wanted menus. D replied “No” and she rudely exclaimed “ well these seats are for those people who are ordering food and drinks, if your not then you cannot sit here.” OH HELL NAW! THAT’S IT! We left immediately and never looked back. Once we reached back down to earth (literally) we exhaled a sigh of relief from the snooty and snobby people we just encountered.  Not saying I would never go back to the Sky Room because the decorum was outstanding but lets just say it was not what I was expecting.