Her Story
The Duck Hunter’s Tale
by Julie Ritter, NG
Ever since the beginning of the year, I have been rallying the troops around my section with cries for “more personal humiliation!” Unfortunately, Uncle Jordy must have heard those cries from his classroom across the hall, because when it came time to identify “live ones” for an HBS Intraview, he came a-calling, and I had no choice but to oblige.
Thankfully, I got a fantastic draw in Mike Dobrynio (Dobbs)…no personal humiliation necessary. Given that one of my early encounters with Dobbs at Fire & Ice last fall resulted in his declaring that he had “nipples the size of silver dollars,” and his eventually showing our group, I knew that I would be far from bored, and more likely, pretty darn entertained on our outing.
Uncle Jordy encouraged us to get a LITTLE crazy, so we decided that a road trip was in order. Unfortunately, the Harbus was not willing to subsidize our trip to New Orleans for Mardi Gras, where I could only imagine what Dobbs would have done for beads…or the story we might have to write when we returned. We settled for a brief jaunt down to Newport for dinner and drinks.
Let it be known that Dobbs, who kicked off his HBS career by being late to his first foundations class and receiving the first cold call of the September Cohort, was nothing but early for our little trip. Ladies, let it also be known that he is a car-door opener. Having spent the last 8 years in the south, I can only tell you how happy it made me to see this habit alive and kicking in my Pennsylvania-bred date. Dobbs, remind me to call your mother and ex-girlfriends and thank them for beating you into submission on that one.
Mind you, I did say we took a little journey to Newport. That might be slightly understated. Dobbs’ failing eyesight apparently makes highway signs a little hard to read. Nonetheless, we got a great tour of the eastern seaboard on the way to and from Rhode Island. (“Look kids, Big Ben! Parliament!”) Nonetheless, we were armed with some good stories, which I’ll let Dobbs share, and soon we were chatting away and singing with the radio as we cruised mostly south.
After a drive past the Newport mansions, we ended up at the Castle Hill Inn, right on the peninsula at the west end of Ocean Drive. Dobbs had worked there for part of the summer prior to joining us at HBS, so we were greeted with a couple of drinks on the house, fantastic service, a crackling fire, and one of the best meals I believe I have ever had. Uncle Jordy provided the wine, Dobbs provided great conversation, although I did not learn anything new about any more of his body parts, and we both agreed that the Intraview life was not all bad. Although they could have rolled us all the way back to Boston, we did manage to make it out to another bar in town, the Cheeky Monkey, for another quick drink, but eventually decided we needed to start the trek home. Which, as I alluded to above, may have been longer than anticipated. Nonetheless, Dobbs was quite the hero, got us both safely back to Boston in time for me to see the clock hit 3:00 AM, and I was left with nothing but sweet dreams of my Harbus Intraview.
His Story
The Wayward Driver
by Mike Dobrynio, NA
Uncle Jordy–or is it “Big Pimpin” these days–would I be interested in an intraview with Julie Ritter? The night out with Julie was a no brainer but writing about it in the Harbus would be like having HBS write an Erik Peterson-esque case on my mojo. Well I called Julie and it was settled–off to Newport Friday night for dinner and a night out on Thames Street. Uncle Jordy, if your budget was bigger and we had more time, a case study Intraview for Mardi Gras would have been in order. Julie is a spontaneous girl and considering my prior flash to her on Brattle Street last fall, Mardi Gras would have made for a very fun time, giddyup…
Julie and I met during foundations, so I knew she was a first rate girl, and the night would be filled with laughter. Julie went to Duke and is an avid college hoops fan! Waiting with baited breath, Friday afternoon was upon us. I picked her up at Morris Hall and off to Newport we went.
The conversation got off to an excellent start. Julie started by telling me about her mysterious phone call the night before with someone asking her if she likes to get spanked? We know who you are, stop trying to kill my mojo. By the way, Julie’s view on spanking… She is a charming lady but definitely knows how to have fun. I managed to miss a few of the exits on the drive down because the conversation was far more interesting than paying attention to the road.
We finally made it to the Castle Hill Restaurant and Sean the dining room manager took care of us. My summer pre-matriculation internship there as a bar back finally paid off. He gave us great table with a full view of the Harbor and the Newport bridge. Julie was dressed to kill with her leopard purse and black leather pants. The meal was great and the lobster bisque is to die for. Julie and I swapped life stories and she definitely has some big plans to be a leader in the non-profit sector. There is no doubt she fits the school mission statement and was paying attention during S&E.
We moved from dinner on to Thames Street and decided to have a drink at one of my favorite bars, the Cheeky Monkey. Julie proceeded to tell me about her dancing prowess and the routine she will be putting on for the upcoming HBS show–watch out! She used to dance for the Duke basketball teams at half time. I am hoping that my fellow HBS Rugby team members and I can woo her into dancing at our matches. Julie what do you say?
Unfortunately the night had to end and so we were back off to Cambridge. For some reason I managed to take the coastal route along I-195 almost ending up at the Cape. Oh well, we had more quality time to chat each other up in the car. It was almost 3 AM when I dropped her off back at Morris. For those of you having issues about being an Intraviewer–go for it. You may get lucky or set up with friend like me. Having a great time with a great gal is not a bad way to spend a Friday night in HBS date land.
