5th of July in a Philly bar

The next round of drinks is on me. My shout.
We are celebrating Nelson's birthday a day early because mijo and I will fly back to SF tomorrow and this is our last night in Philadelphia. I convinced them that it is okay since Nelson was born in the Philippines and it is a day ahead of the U.S. Technically, it is his birthday tonight. A belated 4th of July can also be used as an alibi to celebrate, I thought to myself.

We are to be joined later by his Filipino friends who are coming down from NYC. I thought that is sweet of them. It will be such a delight to be surrounded by people who, like me, are immigrants and originally from the islands.
From the bar, I can see Allen, mijo, and Nelson by a table on the far right corner of the crowded room. They probably have changed topics since I left to get the drinks.
Three days earlier, I was feeling nervous thinking that Allen and Nelson might not click with mijo or the other way around. I always worry about things like this - about friends or family members having a tension toward each other. So why won't they like each other? For starters, they are all techies so that is one thing they have in common. Worst comes to worst, they'll have to pretend to like each other. But, by this time, I already know that this is a success story because they all hit it off on our first day in Philly. And tonight is just our last hurrah to spend more time with them in their town's setting.
Here comes the bartender with my card and the bill. While I sign the receipt, I took note of another fantastic topic that is shared by everyone in the table - traveling. Maybe the L-O-V-E sign of Philly? Winbeldon? Or maybe I should stop worrying about the next topic and let the discussion flow the way it should be. Yeah, I think that's more like a brilliant idea.
~ral
(The photo above was taken on the 4th of July 2008 at the Declaration House on 6th St and Market in Philadelphia, PA.)