"EITHER GIVE ME MORE WINE OR LEAVE ME ALONE"

I LOVE when I am table side and end up talking about wine. I sold a lot tonight and every time I lean forward to start asking the questions "White or Red? Light or full? Dry or sweet? How adventurous are you?" I end up in this beautiful place with someone, and that's a place where they realize I am not here to judge them on their choice, simply to help them with it.  They trust me; they have to, I will either elate or betray them with my suggestions. There are few things that I absolutely sure of, and one happens to be that given a choice between going blind and going deaf I would say take both as long as I can speak. I talk a lot. So much it's my worst trait; I swear that saying: "don't speak unless you are spoken to" could be "Eva, can you speak a little less or you'll get spoken to". So it makes it a lot easier when I have to get to that place where someone needs to feel a bit more comfortable, let them know I'm not going to push anything on them they aren't looking for.

I have to admit, I'm sort of a fan of keeping people on their toes. It's the reason I get a kick out of the people who say "Wow, you know a lot don't you? You're fantastic!" And I smile knowing they saw this girl with the tattoos and wrote her off right away. So we talk about wine and this thing happens with their face every-time: They SEE me. Suddenly I'm more than just someone who stands next to them for about an hour tonight, I'm someone who has information they don't, not only that, information they need. Suddenly I am more interesting and fascinating.  How did I learn? What do I want to do with what I know?

To be honest, more often that not, it's just pass to the information along. Lets face it, the biggest problems in our world, politics, prayer, religion, teaching, parenthood, homelessness, etc...can become exaggerated and over thought  when people think they know all the answers. Or worse yet, when they actually do have some answers and choose to withhold information. I know the exact same as you.  Because what I have in wine knowledge, I lack in math (oh boy do I lack in math) What I lack in tact, I make up for in loyalty. We all have our strengths and weaknesses. I love talking to people about something I love and am passionate about. More importantly, I love making them feel like they BELONG. Wine is a scary subject, and everyone starts small with a subject, wether it's the first time you read socrates and decided to study philosophy or the first time you picked up an instrument and decided to learn how to play.

I often equate choosing a bottle of wine like going on a first date. You don't know the sight, smell, taste, or interest of what you're about to spend time with. You point your finger and hope for the best. Sometimes it's refreshing, you didn't expect that to be so good, and you smile hoping for more wonderful "bottles" like it. And sometimes, especially when you are not given the information you need you choose blindly and are so disappointed that it takes a while to have faith in the process the next time. I will give you all the information I have, since you and I are both here in this space where we trust each other. And I will smile when I watch you take that first sip and look up, that moment you see more than the tattoos, and start seeing someone just trying to help you have a wonderful time.