I'm sure there are lots of things you think you know about East Nashville. Journalists from all over have fallen in love at first sight with its artisan cheese shops, nifty boutiques, cozy cafes, ubiquitous basement recording studios and all those damn bars. You're probably aware it's the home of that bar on ABC's Nashville where they have the dance parties on Monday nights. You probably even tell your friends you'd go if it weren't for all the "hipsters."
With all the hoopla surrounding East Nashville's "Business District," the scene's lively mix of creatives and service employees is often overlooked and underexamined. Across the river and under your nose, there's a sect of night culture, the intricacies of which you know well if you've ever traversed them. Small in number and incestuous by default, this close-knit, heavy-drinking, fun-loving and sexually active social cohort carries with it a great deal of pitfalls, all stemming from the simple fact there's only so many of us to go around.
The dating pool in these parts isn't much larger than a Metro school's graduating class. We're drunk, we're cool, we're sexy, and we live only a few houses away. But the "walk of shame" is a breezy morning stroll compared to the inevitable awkward run-ins awaiting you in the very seats that hosted their original spark. Especially when the old flame's new man or woman of the hour is sitting next to them — because chances are, you've bought that person a beer or two.
A few previously unwritten rules have served well enough for us to function as singles, keeping the networking full force and hard feelings to a minimum. The essentials boil down to simple logistics of space and time: degrees of separation coupled with a statute of limitations, wherein no one person can lay any excessive emotional claim to another without a set amount of space between you and/or time served. A minimum one degree of separation and time no shorter than one month is about all any one can be expected to honor in a pool of such limited resources.
Want that in English? Let's say a frequent drinking acquaintance's new girlfriend is the very girl with whom you made out in the parking lot last week. No big. Be cool and don't mention it. Chances are, he doesn't even know. However, this same guy and his girlfriend have broken up a few weeks later. Fair game? Not yet. Even if you're not that close a friend, your casual outings will most likely result in a painful buzzkill for at least one or two parties involved.
Then again, resources are limited. East Nashville Dating Protocol gives everyone exactly one month to get their butts unhurt. However, the rules clearly state that if this guy is only the friend of a friend, the proper degrees of separation are in place and you are cleared for takeoff — assuming she hasn't already taken up with some other poor bastard.
Want some more tips? If someone invites you out to their car to "listen to some demos," they probably don't want to do drugs or make out. They're going to make you listen to demos. However, they may still make out or do some drugs with you, so go and listen to their shitty demos just in case.
