Week 102: Uptown Tavern, McRib, and a Surprise!

Week 102: December 8th-14th, 2024

This week, my friend Mel brought me to the annual Hillcrest Community holiday party at Uptown Tavern. She is part of the Kiwanis Club and is on the Pride committee at her job, so sometimes I get to tag along at fun events like this one. If you remember, I also was able to walk with Kiwanis during the Pride parade back in July.

The Hillcrest Community party was a onesie-themed party, and while I did not subject myself to the guaranteed overheating that often comes with wearing onesies, I enjoyed seeing everyone dressed up. When we first arrived, I noticed several different Grinches ranging in costume dedication, as well as a bunch of animals or Pokemon. There was a reserved area for the event, but there were still other people eating at the bar that weren’t in costume.

The Kiwanis meeting was brief, but included speeches from Stephen Whitburn, previously the executive chair of San Diego Pride and current District 3 council member, as well as Shane Harris, a civil rights activist and the president of the People’s Association of Justice Advocates.

Their speeches mainly consisted of congratulatory remarks and appreciation for the year’s work so far. I learned that the Kiwanis Club and Hillcrest San Diego are currently working closely with the Don Diego VFW (Veteran’s of Foreign Wars) in Barrio Logan to plan a large event on Christmas to feed those in need.

It was great to connect with the community and I am thankful to Mel for inviting me to come along. I appreciate the work that community groups like Kiwanis Club do to try to keep us all from running head first into hatred-filled chaos.

On our way home, Mel and I stopped at McDonald’s for a quick, cheap meal. A long awaited mystery finally got solved this week because I decided to try the (in)famous McRib. It gets so much hype around the holidays, and I was always curious about it, so I figured what better to compliment my Spicy McChicken than trying a McRib for the first time? Turns out it was the first and last time, because that sh*t tasted like salty cardboard with too much BBQ sauce.

There were only TWO tiny pickle slices hidden between the soggy bread and pork PATTY (definitely NOT from a RIB of any kind…), so I was left pretty disappointed. Not sure what the hype is all about, unless people really like smothering cardboard and something that resembles meat in BBQ sauce. Though the Kiwanis Club and Hillcrest San Diego provide us with hope for the future, the McRib definitely filled me with hatred and chaos, so I’ll be sticking with the ole reliable McNuggets or McChickens, thank you very much.

A bonus mention this week is the wonderful surprise graduation party we successfully pulled off for our friend Kirat who just became a (Registered Nurse) RN. He will continue school and become a Nurse Practitioner (NP) in a couple years. Most of our friends from college are in nursing and healthcare, so he will fit right in. We all felt bad pretending we were busy and couldn’t celebrate with him, but it was worth the surprise because we really pulled it off. I loved Daniela’s addition of “blood draw” and “urine sample” Jell-O shots to really emphasize the true meaning of providing healthcare to all.

I’m looking forward to getting through this last week of work for the year, and then I’ll be off until after New Year’s Day. I’ll be going back to the Bay and need to start packing. I have to find my real jackets now.

See you next week.