Like I mentioned in my prior post, Sean was the first of the karaoke crowd that I had met at the VIP. I guess I met a bunch of them all around the same time, but Sean was the one I started hanging out with first. We met shooting pool. Then when me and Bill started going to Eldorados (down the street a ways) on their karaoke nights (Thurs and Sundays), Sean was also there. Then the first Friday night that me and Bill went to that karaoke show (at a bar called Dino's), the first person we seen when we walked in the door was Sean. That's probably the first night the three of us started actually hanging out together.
Me and Sean had immediate connections due to the similar circumstances of our current lives. Sean had an Engineering degree and worked as an Engineer/ supervisor at a soap manufacturing plant. I was a Business Systems Analyst with a Computer Science degree. So we were both career professionals with a technical background and job. Sean had also been a part-time law student, but had to quit that due to some f#cked up sh!t he got himself into with his ex-girfriend (related to issues with his wife as well - I'll talk about that another time). Sean had split from his wife in the past year (actually he left her though) and she had bipolar disorder. A VERY mood altering disorder. I split with my wife just recently, and she had clinical depression and Attention Deficit Disorder. Also mood altering conditions. We both had very successful careers up until the last year, and were now both having f#cked up problems with our jobs, and taking crap and blame for things that we shouldn't be, and that were beyond our control.
The thing that truly 'endeared us' (in a totally 'manly way' of course) was when Sean asked me, "What was in your jacket pocket?" We both empties our jackets and both had the EXACT same things in each. A condom, breath spray, and a karaoke slip with some girl's name and number written on the back of it. That was hilarious.
Anyway, Me and Bill and Sean started hanging out together after that. Sean would even call me me from work (because I was still on 'the bench' and didn't have to report to the office) near the end of his shift and we would chat and then meet up later afterwards. Then I got laid off (along with about 50 other employees that were not attached to projects). About two weeks later, Sean got fired for 'falling asleep at work'. He says it's because he was allergic to the soap products they were manufacturing, which I think was partly true, but it was also because he was also staying out at the bars until 3:00am every night as well. Mostly we both got let go because someone of greater influence than us took dislikes to us (for their own reasons) during our last projects. Prior to that, we were both deemed 'high performers' at work, and used to get the praise of all our peers.
Like I mentioned earlier, I still didn't have my head or my life on straight due to my marriage collapsing as it did, and seeing the technology market had bottomed out, and the fact that I had a lot of cash on hand, I decided to not work for a while. I wasn't sure what I was going to do, but I did know that I needed time to sort things out in my life. I had just bought my house eight months earlier, so couldn't leave Columbus. So I just existed for a while.
Like I also mentioned earlier, Bill was starting to become a 'nuisance' at the bars because once he got drunk he would turn into a 'hood boy' and just not fit into the environments of these 'non-hood' bars. That was temporarily solved by Bill having to spend 30 days in jail due to something he got into a year earlier.
So now me and Sean were hanging out every night. It's Sean that introduced me to the rest of the 'karaoke circuit'. Though I had already met a number of them. But there were about 20 karaoke regulars that followed the same karaoke show night after night. Monday night was Rosie's, Tuesdays was Shorty's, Wednesdays was the VIP, Thursdays was Eldorados, Fridays was Dino's, Saturdays was back to the VIP, and Sundays was back to Eldorados.
After the bars closed, I used to go home to bed so I could get up and work (or study) in the morning, but now I didn't have work anymore. So, on the second night that I was no longer working, Heidi (a girl that I had been getting to know) asked me if I wanted to go to TJ's with them. It was a popular 24 hour breakfast joint that they often frequented. I replied, "Why not? I don't have anything better to do." So I went to TJ's with Sean, Heidi, Bass Dave, Robin (Troll), and (Moody) Gina (not the one that you know Kelley - in case you are reading). Five of the karaoke regulars. The first week hanging out with Sean, he had introduced me to ALL of the karaoke crowd. I pretty much was now a member (even though I didn't sing).
A couple weeks later, Sean had to have overnight surgery to repair a deviated septum (or something like that). He had to take advantage of his former company's benefits before they ran out. Apparently, the recovery would take about a week, and he was supposed to pretty much not move at all for that week. So it was recommended that he not stay alone during his recovery. He wasn't seeing Smiley anymore, but was trying to see if he could stay with another girl that he was starting to mix up with. That fell through, so I told him he could stay at my house for the week. After all, I had a fully furnished four bedroom house, and it's not like I had anything better to do during the day. So he stayed at my house that week. He had just bought the game 'Vanishing Point', a fun racecar game. We basically played that several hours every day. We got along so well, and enjoyed the company and conversation so much, he just never left. So Sean became my first roommate.
I know, not exactly an 'exciting' post but it's background information. There are plenty of more interesting stories related to Sean, and it's through him I initially met a lot of the other people that I will be relaying stories about.
There would be more to follow, but we'll get to that eventually.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Friday, April 24, 2009
The Death of Superman
Well, me and my black eye (from the Jeff and Jack fiasco) were back in Canada for Christmas. Actually I wasn't 'home' which would be Manitoba. I was in Calgary (where my brother was living). My brother had to work through Christmas so couldn't go home. The parents decided to visit him for Christmas because they were in Columbus a few years earlier (also when my brother had to work at Christmas). Originally me and my wife were supposed to spend a nice quiet Christmas alone together. We were looking forward to it. Well, obviously that was no longer the case, so I flew to Calgary also.
It was also obvious that Melanie was no longer going to pick me up at the airport when I returned to Columbus, and that we weren't going to spend New Year's together as originally planned. Oh well. So Bill picked me up at the airport (in a borrowed car). After we got my car and dropped the borrowed one off, we went to the VIP which was having a huge New Year's Eve celebration. It was a friday night. Not a karoke night, but it was PACKED with fun patrons and a huge party none-the-less. What a good time!
The first of the karoke crowd that I had met playing pool was a guy named Sean. I'll write a separate post about him in more detail later. Sean was 26 years old, was a career professional (like me) whos life was in the process of spinning out of control. So we had a connection right away. I can't say that he was an attractive man. In fact, I found him somewhat unattractive. He was soft and a little fat, and had a baby face. He was VERY outgoing though and could sing fairly well. I think that was the attraction for women. I think the baby face and roundly softness invoked some sort of 'maternal instinct' in the ladies at these bars too. That's just a theory though. BUT for whatever reason, most of the ladies were widely attracted to him. In fact, he was there that night with Smiley, who he was 'sort of' seeing. They called themselves girlfriend/ boyfriend, but I think it was more of a f#ck buddy relationship actually. They did date for a couple of weeks though and she was his date this particular evening. We all sat and partied together that night. We were all having a ball!
Bill was getting hammered, but seeing I was driving I had only about one pitcher of beer for the entire evening. One amusing thing about this night that I remember was that Mark (YoBoy) had a pot luck type spread of food at the back table. It was quite good. In a large crock pot was some sort of sausage-stew type of concoction that he had personally made. It was quite good. At one point, Mark goes over to Bill and says, "Hey Bill! Try some of this food that I made. It's really quite tasty!" As usual, talking to him like they were old best buddies. The funny thing is that Bill, though would talk to him, usually talked fairly down to him. He's really the one that continued to give Mark a hard time after our initial encounter. Mind you, I found it all funny, and did my share of disrespecting him as well. Mostly with just going along with, or laughing about the things Bill would say about Mark. But mostly, I was trying to 'smooth over' the relationship between me and Mark, given the fact that he owned the bar, and it was our absolutely FAVOURITE bar (for good reason). Anyway, I was sitting next to Bill when Mark made the food comment to him. He didn't even acknowledge my presence. Later I went and had some food, and whatever that stuff Mark made was, it was really good! Trying to be nice, I said to Mark, "Hey Mark. This stuff is really good! What's in it?" He looks at me with complete disdain, and replies in a grumpy tone, "Sausage." I say, "Oh,.....Just sausage?" He says back in the same grumpy tone, "Yes, sausage. Just sausage!" Whatever. At least I tried. I went back to my seat and told Bill and we laughed about that as well. Then made more fun of Mark while laughing. GFX looked pretty damned HOT that night I may add, and I did do my fair share of fraternizing with her as well. I always had to subtly flirt with her. That was a given.
Anyway the night was total fun. Great times were had by all. Near the end of the night me and Bill were heading out of there. Like I say, I was pretty sober but Bill was completely smashed. We headed South on High street (which is a major road that the bar was on). We went two blocks and I noticed when we went through a greeen light that the green glow of the light showed that my windshield was starting to fog up. So I reached down and put on the front defogger. In the two or three seconds it took me to do that, whilst I had my eyes of the road, Bill all-of-a-suddenly yelled, "Car! Car!" I quickly looked up, and at the EXACT moment I took my eyes of the road, the car a little ahead of us came to a very sudden stop due to the fact a car in front of them was waiting to turn left into the Huntington bank ATM drive through. I SLAMMED on my brakes! But it was too late. We nailed them from behind still travelling about 20 mph. They were in an older (solidly built) car. The bumper of my neon was lower to the ground than the back of their car. My front end hit and crumpled in like paper. We came to a VERY sudden stop into the rear bumper of their car.
We got out of my car. Out of the car that we hit emerged two cute little college-aged chickadees wearing their little fancy party dresses. They were both drunk. Bill walked over to them all drunk and his usual 'drooley', meanwhile I called him to 'step back'. Then, before I could address them, the chicky that was the driver said to me, "We don't have to report this or anything!" Knowing that I rear-ended them and would automatically be at fault, replied, "No. I don't see a need to report this." They were drunk and I was sober, but even a pitcher or so of beer would probably been enough to put me over the 'legal driving under the influence' limit. So I didn't want police involvement any more that they did.
As soon as I replied, they immediately jumped (I mean jumped) into their car and sped off. I didn't even have a chance to exchange any driver, insurance, or vehicle information. I couldn't see any visible damage to their car what-so-ever. Meanwhile my car was a crumpled mess stuck in the middle of the road. One headlight was smashed, the other was pointing at a 45 degree angle to the road. The car wouldn't even start. So we pushed the car off the road and into the gas station to our right. After a few minutes of looking under the hood (which was wadded up in the shape of a paper ball), we had realized that one battery cable had been knocked off. We reattached that, tried the ignition and the car started back up to life.
I was in a pretty pissed off mood. We both were. Actually Bill probably just used it as an excuse, but said, "F#ck this! That's it, we're going down to the hood and getting some stuff!" I agreed. This isn't how my night was going to end. So we took my crumpled heap of a car with one headlight smashed and one headlight facing directly into the pavement on New Year's Eve (or more like the morning of the New Year) into the North Hood to buy some crack. Fuck the tiny amounts. We bought a whole eight-ball. Which is 1/8 of an once (hence the name). (8-ball = 1/8 of an once, Teenager = 1/16 of an once, a Bill is $100 worth., everything esle is pretty much sold in multiples of $10.) We went to Pork's house. He's a dealer that works with Dave. (Him and Dave grew up together.) I said, "F#ck it! I'm not waiting in the car. I'm going in there and doing this deal myself!" Bill says, "Okay, G, let's go in and do it then!" Pork had never seen me before, and seeing I still had that corporate image about me, it made a lot of people from the hood that didn't know me think I may be a cop. So Pork pulls out this automatic weapon and points it at me. I didn't even care. I was still pissed off about my car. Pork says, "I'm not trusting him until I see him do a hit." I look around and say, "Well I'm not going to waste my time with a pop can, I need a real stem then." Pork hands me one loaded with a small hit and I do it. I'm not even paying attention to the gun he's pointing at me. He puts his weapon down and spreads out $150 worth. (Incidently, in Columbus the going rate for an 8-ball is $150. From what I understand it costs about $240 in Canada. Not that I care anyway. I haven't had any desire to use for years now. Just found the price difference noteable.)
So we drove my car all the way into the North Hood, then drove it all the way back to my part of town where we started from, and blazed this 8-ball of crack until about 7:00am. It was the first time that I had ever done a quantity more than about $20 at a time. No big deal though. We still only did small hits at a time and therefore didn't have any of the 'weird' side effects. On Sunday afternoon I called my insurance company and reported that I had hit a guardrail. After all, I didn't have any information at all to give them about the other vehicle or driver anyway.
That worked out pretty good. Later that week the insurance company wrote off my vehicle and gave me a $5,000 cheque for my 1996 (black) dodge neon with 80,000 miles on it. They appraised it at $5,500, but it cost $500 for them to haul it away for me. I could have kept it and got the full $5,500, but didn't want to bother with the hassle of getting rid of the car myself. A friend at work had just bought a new Toyota, and said there were used trade-ins for sale at the dealership. I called them, told them I had $5,000 in cash to spend and inquired what was available. They had just got a 1997 dodge neon (purplish grey) with 40,000 miles on it as a trade in, and would sell it as-is for $5,000. Bill got a friend of his to drive us there. We gave it a quick test drive. It was nice. I handed them $5,000 and the car was mine. So I ended up getting a neon (same as I had), that was one year newer, had 40,000 less miles on it, and was a nicer color for the same as I was given for my neon. Sweet deal. I was back in business!
The following Saturday morning at 7:00a, I got a telephone call from some lady detective. I at first thought it was looking for donations as I often got those phone calls and was kind of irritated that they would be calling me so early on a Saturday. Then she asked me if my car was in an accident the following week. I said, "yes". Then they asked why I didn't report another car involved in the accident. I originally said, "Well, there wasn't another car. I hit a guard rail." Then she stated, "That's not what so-and-so, the driver of the other vehicle, is reporting." Then she proceded to tell me that the other driver reported that we were intimidating them and then sped off in our vehicle before we could exchange information. With that, I told the detective, "Okay. There was another vehicle. But that's notat all what happened..." Then proceded to tell them the real story. The detective said, "Hang on. I'll call you back." Then called back a few minutes later saying that the other party has admitted that your details are correct. What had happened, is that this wasn't the 'little girl's car'. It was her father's car. A couple days after the accident, the father noticed some undercarriage damage (apparently $1,200 worth) and interrogated his daughter about it. She made up the story about us intimidating them, and taking off on them so that her father wouldn't get mad about not exchanging information. When the police questioned her about my story, she caved and told the truth. So all I had to do in the end was call my insurance company, explain the details, and the additional $1,200 to fix their car was included on the claim.
Now the whole story is over. Rest in peace, Superman. Rest in Peace.....
It was also obvious that Melanie was no longer going to pick me up at the airport when I returned to Columbus, and that we weren't going to spend New Year's together as originally planned. Oh well. So Bill picked me up at the airport (in a borrowed car). After we got my car and dropped the borrowed one off, we went to the VIP which was having a huge New Year's Eve celebration. It was a friday night. Not a karoke night, but it was PACKED with fun patrons and a huge party none-the-less. What a good time!
The first of the karoke crowd that I had met playing pool was a guy named Sean. I'll write a separate post about him in more detail later. Sean was 26 years old, was a career professional (like me) whos life was in the process of spinning out of control. So we had a connection right away. I can't say that he was an attractive man. In fact, I found him somewhat unattractive. He was soft and a little fat, and had a baby face. He was VERY outgoing though and could sing fairly well. I think that was the attraction for women. I think the baby face and roundly softness invoked some sort of 'maternal instinct' in the ladies at these bars too. That's just a theory though. BUT for whatever reason, most of the ladies were widely attracted to him. In fact, he was there that night with Smiley, who he was 'sort of' seeing. They called themselves girlfriend/ boyfriend, but I think it was more of a f#ck buddy relationship actually. They did date for a couple of weeks though and she was his date this particular evening. We all sat and partied together that night. We were all having a ball!
Bill was getting hammered, but seeing I was driving I had only about one pitcher of beer for the entire evening. One amusing thing about this night that I remember was that Mark (YoBoy) had a pot luck type spread of food at the back table. It was quite good. In a large crock pot was some sort of sausage-stew type of concoction that he had personally made. It was quite good. At one point, Mark goes over to Bill and says, "Hey Bill! Try some of this food that I made. It's really quite tasty!" As usual, talking to him like they were old best buddies. The funny thing is that Bill, though would talk to him, usually talked fairly down to him. He's really the one that continued to give Mark a hard time after our initial encounter. Mind you, I found it all funny, and did my share of disrespecting him as well. Mostly with just going along with, or laughing about the things Bill would say about Mark. But mostly, I was trying to 'smooth over' the relationship between me and Mark, given the fact that he owned the bar, and it was our absolutely FAVOURITE bar (for good reason). Anyway, I was sitting next to Bill when Mark made the food comment to him. He didn't even acknowledge my presence. Later I went and had some food, and whatever that stuff Mark made was, it was really good! Trying to be nice, I said to Mark, "Hey Mark. This stuff is really good! What's in it?" He looks at me with complete disdain, and replies in a grumpy tone, "Sausage." I say, "Oh,.....Just sausage?" He says back in the same grumpy tone, "Yes, sausage. Just sausage!" Whatever. At least I tried. I went back to my seat and told Bill and we laughed about that as well. Then made more fun of Mark while laughing. GFX looked pretty damned HOT that night I may add, and I did do my fair share of fraternizing with her as well. I always had to subtly flirt with her. That was a given.
Anyway the night was total fun. Great times were had by all. Near the end of the night me and Bill were heading out of there. Like I say, I was pretty sober but Bill was completely smashed. We headed South on High street (which is a major road that the bar was on). We went two blocks and I noticed when we went through a greeen light that the green glow of the light showed that my windshield was starting to fog up. So I reached down and put on the front defogger. In the two or three seconds it took me to do that, whilst I had my eyes of the road, Bill all-of-a-suddenly yelled, "Car! Car!" I quickly looked up, and at the EXACT moment I took my eyes of the road, the car a little ahead of us came to a very sudden stop due to the fact a car in front of them was waiting to turn left into the Huntington bank ATM drive through. I SLAMMED on my brakes! But it was too late. We nailed them from behind still travelling about 20 mph. They were in an older (solidly built) car. The bumper of my neon was lower to the ground than the back of their car. My front end hit and crumpled in like paper. We came to a VERY sudden stop into the rear bumper of their car.
We got out of my car. Out of the car that we hit emerged two cute little college-aged chickadees wearing their little fancy party dresses. They were both drunk. Bill walked over to them all drunk and his usual 'drooley', meanwhile I called him to 'step back'. Then, before I could address them, the chicky that was the driver said to me, "We don't have to report this or anything!" Knowing that I rear-ended them and would automatically be at fault, replied, "No. I don't see a need to report this." They were drunk and I was sober, but even a pitcher or so of beer would probably been enough to put me over the 'legal driving under the influence' limit. So I didn't want police involvement any more that they did.
As soon as I replied, they immediately jumped (I mean jumped) into their car and sped off. I didn't even have a chance to exchange any driver, insurance, or vehicle information. I couldn't see any visible damage to their car what-so-ever. Meanwhile my car was a crumpled mess stuck in the middle of the road. One headlight was smashed, the other was pointing at a 45 degree angle to the road. The car wouldn't even start. So we pushed the car off the road and into the gas station to our right. After a few minutes of looking under the hood (which was wadded up in the shape of a paper ball), we had realized that one battery cable had been knocked off. We reattached that, tried the ignition and the car started back up to life.
I was in a pretty pissed off mood. We both were. Actually Bill probably just used it as an excuse, but said, "F#ck this! That's it, we're going down to the hood and getting some stuff!" I agreed. This isn't how my night was going to end. So we took my crumpled heap of a car with one headlight smashed and one headlight facing directly into the pavement on New Year's Eve (or more like the morning of the New Year) into the North Hood to buy some crack. Fuck the tiny amounts. We bought a whole eight-ball. Which is 1/8 of an once (hence the name). (8-ball = 1/8 of an once, Teenager = 1/16 of an once, a Bill is $100 worth., everything esle is pretty much sold in multiples of $10.) We went to Pork's house. He's a dealer that works with Dave. (Him and Dave grew up together.) I said, "F#ck it! I'm not waiting in the car. I'm going in there and doing this deal myself!" Bill says, "Okay, G, let's go in and do it then!" Pork had never seen me before, and seeing I still had that corporate image about me, it made a lot of people from the hood that didn't know me think I may be a cop. So Pork pulls out this automatic weapon and points it at me. I didn't even care. I was still pissed off about my car. Pork says, "I'm not trusting him until I see him do a hit." I look around and say, "Well I'm not going to waste my time with a pop can, I need a real stem then." Pork hands me one loaded with a small hit and I do it. I'm not even paying attention to the gun he's pointing at me. He puts his weapon down and spreads out $150 worth. (Incidently, in Columbus the going rate for an 8-ball is $150. From what I understand it costs about $240 in Canada. Not that I care anyway. I haven't had any desire to use for years now. Just found the price difference noteable.)
So we drove my car all the way into the North Hood, then drove it all the way back to my part of town where we started from, and blazed this 8-ball of crack until about 7:00am. It was the first time that I had ever done a quantity more than about $20 at a time. No big deal though. We still only did small hits at a time and therefore didn't have any of the 'weird' side effects. On Sunday afternoon I called my insurance company and reported that I had hit a guardrail. After all, I didn't have any information at all to give them about the other vehicle or driver anyway.
That worked out pretty good. Later that week the insurance company wrote off my vehicle and gave me a $5,000 cheque for my 1996 (black) dodge neon with 80,000 miles on it. They appraised it at $5,500, but it cost $500 for them to haul it away for me. I could have kept it and got the full $5,500, but didn't want to bother with the hassle of getting rid of the car myself. A friend at work had just bought a new Toyota, and said there were used trade-ins for sale at the dealership. I called them, told them I had $5,000 in cash to spend and inquired what was available. They had just got a 1997 dodge neon (purplish grey) with 40,000 miles on it as a trade in, and would sell it as-is for $5,000. Bill got a friend of his to drive us there. We gave it a quick test drive. It was nice. I handed them $5,000 and the car was mine. So I ended up getting a neon (same as I had), that was one year newer, had 40,000 less miles on it, and was a nicer color for the same as I was given for my neon. Sweet deal. I was back in business!
The following Saturday morning at 7:00a, I got a telephone call from some lady detective. I at first thought it was looking for donations as I often got those phone calls and was kind of irritated that they would be calling me so early on a Saturday. Then she asked me if my car was in an accident the following week. I said, "yes". Then they asked why I didn't report another car involved in the accident. I originally said, "Well, there wasn't another car. I hit a guard rail." Then she stated, "That's not what so-and-so, the driver of the other vehicle, is reporting." Then she proceded to tell me that the other driver reported that we were intimidating them and then sped off in our vehicle before we could exchange information. With that, I told the detective, "Okay. There was another vehicle. But that's notat all what happened..." Then proceded to tell them the real story. The detective said, "Hang on. I'll call you back." Then called back a few minutes later saying that the other party has admitted that your details are correct. What had happened, is that this wasn't the 'little girl's car'. It was her father's car. A couple days after the accident, the father noticed some undercarriage damage (apparently $1,200 worth) and interrogated his daughter about it. She made up the story about us intimidating them, and taking off on them so that her father wouldn't get mad about not exchanging information. When the police questioned her about my story, she caved and told the truth. So all I had to do in the end was call my insurance company, explain the details, and the additional $1,200 to fix their car was included on the claim.
Now the whole story is over. Rest in peace, Superman. Rest in Peace.....
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Bar Scenes
One thing that I should mention for clarity is what 'type' of bar scenes these were. Anyone coming from the background that I came from (that would be university/ college educated, career job, family focussed, etc.) don't generally hang out at bars much once they've graduated and started their careers. They are career and family focussed. They usually meet a like-minded person, date her for a stretch, get married and continue to build on the marriage and career. That's what path I was on for the first several years of my adult life.
When these people go to the bar, it's usually just to have a few drinks with a friend or friends and 'catch up'. Or maybe the wife or girlfriend is out of town, and you want to get drunk with the 'buddies'. You don't generally go there to meet new people or to hook up with anyone. Unless you decide to go to a stripper bar (which of course is different), the bars are generally nice, fairly upscale, and cater to this type of client. You basically go to these bars and sit and talk to whomever you went there to meet up with (and generally nobody else). They are not a 'sociable' bar. These are not the type of bars that I am referring to in my blog.
Of course there's also the dance bars, student/ young person bars. We all know them. They are the bars where the general age is 18 to 24 years old. Most people are students, or are at least not into their 'careers' or 'adult lives' yet. Of course these are just bars to mix and mingle and dance and party and do all the 'young adult' stuff. Obviously, these are not the type of bars that I am referring to in my blog either.
The bars that I'm referring to are the local area pubs. The 'sociable' bars. These are the bars where everyone just drops in. They often just drop in by themselves and everyone talks to everyone else sitting around the bar. For the most part, the patrons at these types of bars are quite a bit different than the bars I've mentioned above. For one, the patrons generally hang out at these bars on a regular, perhaps even daily basis. Many of their 'friends' are generally people that they've met hanging out at these bars. Most of these 'bar friends' they've never even seen outside of the bar. A lot of these patrons go to the bar to grab a few drinks and chat after work before preceding on with their lives. But a large part of the patronage is there to simply socialize and get drunk. It's a lifestyle.
Most of the patrons are single. Many or more like most of these patrons are not career or family focussed. In fact, a lot of them don't work at all, or at least don't work regularly. A lot of them are also the cooks, bartenders, and waiters that work in the area as well. They hang out here 'after work' which could be at any hour for those types of jobs. I've found that many of them tend to be the 'independent contractors' that work as painters, carpenters, remodelers, or labourers. Often these jobs don't require you to necessily be there from 9 to 5, or don't require you to work set days or hours. Any 'career professionals' that hang out at these bars are generally in the same boat that I was in. Displaced and in some sort of 'holding pattern' or 'f#cked up state of mind' due to whatever caused them to be displaced in the first place (lost job, failed marriage, new in town, whatever). You do get quite the variety, but for the most part everyone is there to meet people and socialize. It's at these bars, you have every different perspective, anything can happen, and everything is 'fair game'. These are the types of bars that I was hanging out at.
When these people go to the bar, it's usually just to have a few drinks with a friend or friends and 'catch up'. Or maybe the wife or girlfriend is out of town, and you want to get drunk with the 'buddies'. You don't generally go there to meet new people or to hook up with anyone. Unless you decide to go to a stripper bar (which of course is different), the bars are generally nice, fairly upscale, and cater to this type of client. You basically go to these bars and sit and talk to whomever you went there to meet up with (and generally nobody else). They are not a 'sociable' bar. These are not the type of bars that I am referring to in my blog.
Of course there's also the dance bars, student/ young person bars. We all know them. They are the bars where the general age is 18 to 24 years old. Most people are students, or are at least not into their 'careers' or 'adult lives' yet. Of course these are just bars to mix and mingle and dance and party and do all the 'young adult' stuff. Obviously, these are not the type of bars that I am referring to in my blog either.
The bars that I'm referring to are the local area pubs. The 'sociable' bars. These are the bars where everyone just drops in. They often just drop in by themselves and everyone talks to everyone else sitting around the bar. For the most part, the patrons at these types of bars are quite a bit different than the bars I've mentioned above. For one, the patrons generally hang out at these bars on a regular, perhaps even daily basis. Many of their 'friends' are generally people that they've met hanging out at these bars. Most of these 'bar friends' they've never even seen outside of the bar. A lot of these patrons go to the bar to grab a few drinks and chat after work before preceding on with their lives. But a large part of the patronage is there to simply socialize and get drunk. It's a lifestyle.
Most of the patrons are single. Many or more like most of these patrons are not career or family focussed. In fact, a lot of them don't work at all, or at least don't work regularly. A lot of them are also the cooks, bartenders, and waiters that work in the area as well. They hang out here 'after work' which could be at any hour for those types of jobs. I've found that many of them tend to be the 'independent contractors' that work as painters, carpenters, remodelers, or labourers. Often these jobs don't require you to necessily be there from 9 to 5, or don't require you to work set days or hours. Any 'career professionals' that hang out at these bars are generally in the same boat that I was in. Displaced and in some sort of 'holding pattern' or 'f#cked up state of mind' due to whatever caused them to be displaced in the first place (lost job, failed marriage, new in town, whatever). You do get quite the variety, but for the most part everyone is there to meet people and socialize. It's at these bars, you have every different perspective, anything can happen, and everything is 'fair game'. These are the types of bars that I was hanging out at.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Perspectives
I want to take a short break from the 'sagas' of my past and talk about something that I touched on in my prior post. That would be the perspectives that people have based on the 'environment' where they are from.
Everyone starts from a certain environment that they were raised in. That of course is influenced by their parents (or whomever raised them) and the influences and perspectives of the community or society around them. Most people never truly leave the environment that they were raised in. That is to say that they may 'visit' other environments, or even 'know' people from other environments, but rarely do they get to the point where they 'live and fully understand' the perspectives of any environment outside of where they live in. Therefore, they tend to think pretty much the same as everyone else that they've been exposed to. Meaning that what they view as 'right', or 'impressive', or 'better', or even 'normal' is based on what everyone else in their own environment views as that.
The part that many people fail to consider is that what they view as 'better' or 'impressive' usually is totally different than the perspectives of the people from different environments or even different 'social-economic classes'.
Case in point. When I was in university, I was there to study hard and launch my professional career. I viewed my career as starting the day I started university, and not the day after I had graduated and actually started making a paycheck. The people I looked up to and respected were the people who were also doing the same things I was doing, and studying daily, getting A's, and building their career potential every single day. Those are the people that I thought were 'impressive', 'better', or the 'best'. To a point, I also only 'respected' people who were in good physical shape and exercised fairly regularly. The funny thing is that it never occurred to me at first that other people didn't consider that the most 'impressive' or the 'best'. But I had no point-of-reference to contrast that belief. All my friend's and peers thought as I did.
An example. I remember one time in my graduating year after I had completed (or was in the process of completing) all my degree requirements. I could actually take a few 'elective' courses outside of my degree. I always loved pscychology, so took a second and third year psychology course for personal interest. At the time I considered any Arts course to be a 'rubber' course, because it didn't require near as many hours of study and practice as the Science courses that I was taking. Admitedly, I looked down on Arts students unless they were in an after graduate (Master's or Ph.D.) program. So did everyone else that was a dedicated student in the Sciences (or other specific disciplines like Commerce and such).
There was this one attractive girl in my psych class that I sat next to and would talk to regularly. She was attractive, but I had no interest in her because she was an 'Arts student'. That's just the mind set I had. I did feel myself in a way 'superior' because I was in a much more difficult discipline. (Once again, so did everyone else in my 'environment'.) Meanwhile, I'm sure she though herself in a way 'superior' to me because she probably saw me as somewhat of a 'geek' in her eyes. That's the perspective she would have based on her 'environment'. In human nature terms, we were just being the exact same way. Products of 0ur environments.
The reason I became aware of this is because one day I was at my locker and she walked past with a friend and I said 'hello' (as we often talked together in class). She looked right at me (we were five feet apart) and pretended not to know me because she either didn't want her friend to know that seh knew me, or was afraid that I was interested in dating her. This made me laugh. I wasn't interested in her. In my mind, she wasn't in 'my league'. And it occured to me, in her mind, she felt the same about me.
This is just a sample of what happens in every environment or society of life. We just naturally assume that our environment's perspectives are the 'best' and due to the fact that we are rarely exposed to a contrasting view because we have a tendency to stick to our own 'kind' who think that same way that we do, we are often unaware or surprised that people don't think in the same way as to what is 'right' or 'normal' or 'better'.
The truth is, that none is 'better'. Each one is just different. I may think someone is 'unaware' because they don't 'know' the same things as I do becasue they've never been exposed to the same teachings or concepts or experiences as I. So you 'could' say they are therefore 'unaware' of how I perceive because of it. But I am also 'unaware'. I don't know the things that they know unless I've lived their lives, and learned from the same experiences and perspectives as they have. Neither one is better or worse, or more aware for that matter. We just know different things, and think differently based on 'what we know'. In reality, we are still all being the same as we are judging the world and forming our perspectives based on our own personal life's experiences.
Until I started truly living and understanding other 'environments' these concepts never truly occurred to me. How human. How we are all so different, and yet so very much the same all at the same time.
I could elaborate much more than this, and originally was going to go into more detail. But I don't feel like it, and it's not really necessary anyway.
Everyone starts from a certain environment that they were raised in. That of course is influenced by their parents (or whomever raised them) and the influences and perspectives of the community or society around them. Most people never truly leave the environment that they were raised in. That is to say that they may 'visit' other environments, or even 'know' people from other environments, but rarely do they get to the point where they 'live and fully understand' the perspectives of any environment outside of where they live in. Therefore, they tend to think pretty much the same as everyone else that they've been exposed to. Meaning that what they view as 'right', or 'impressive', or 'better', or even 'normal' is based on what everyone else in their own environment views as that.
The part that many people fail to consider is that what they view as 'better' or 'impressive' usually is totally different than the perspectives of the people from different environments or even different 'social-economic classes'.
Case in point. When I was in university, I was there to study hard and launch my professional career. I viewed my career as starting the day I started university, and not the day after I had graduated and actually started making a paycheck. The people I looked up to and respected were the people who were also doing the same things I was doing, and studying daily, getting A's, and building their career potential every single day. Those are the people that I thought were 'impressive', 'better', or the 'best'. To a point, I also only 'respected' people who were in good physical shape and exercised fairly regularly. The funny thing is that it never occurred to me at first that other people didn't consider that the most 'impressive' or the 'best'. But I had no point-of-reference to contrast that belief. All my friend's and peers thought as I did.
An example. I remember one time in my graduating year after I had completed (or was in the process of completing) all my degree requirements. I could actually take a few 'elective' courses outside of my degree. I always loved pscychology, so took a second and third year psychology course for personal interest. At the time I considered any Arts course to be a 'rubber' course, because it didn't require near as many hours of study and practice as the Science courses that I was taking. Admitedly, I looked down on Arts students unless they were in an after graduate (Master's or Ph.D.) program. So did everyone else that was a dedicated student in the Sciences (or other specific disciplines like Commerce and such).
There was this one attractive girl in my psych class that I sat next to and would talk to regularly. She was attractive, but I had no interest in her because she was an 'Arts student'. That's just the mind set I had. I did feel myself in a way 'superior' because I was in a much more difficult discipline. (Once again, so did everyone else in my 'environment'.) Meanwhile, I'm sure she though herself in a way 'superior' to me because she probably saw me as somewhat of a 'geek' in her eyes. That's the perspective she would have based on her 'environment'. In human nature terms, we were just being the exact same way. Products of 0ur environments.
The reason I became aware of this is because one day I was at my locker and she walked past with a friend and I said 'hello' (as we often talked together in class). She looked right at me (we were five feet apart) and pretended not to know me because she either didn't want her friend to know that seh knew me, or was afraid that I was interested in dating her. This made me laugh. I wasn't interested in her. In my mind, she wasn't in 'my league'. And it occured to me, in her mind, she felt the same about me.
This is just a sample of what happens in every environment or society of life. We just naturally assume that our environment's perspectives are the 'best' and due to the fact that we are rarely exposed to a contrasting view because we have a tendency to stick to our own 'kind' who think that same way that we do, we are often unaware or surprised that people don't think in the same way as to what is 'right' or 'normal' or 'better'.
The truth is, that none is 'better'. Each one is just different. I may think someone is 'unaware' because they don't 'know' the same things as I do becasue they've never been exposed to the same teachings or concepts or experiences as I. So you 'could' say they are therefore 'unaware' of how I perceive because of it. But I am also 'unaware'. I don't know the things that they know unless I've lived their lives, and learned from the same experiences and perspectives as they have. Neither one is better or worse, or more aware for that matter. We just know different things, and think differently based on 'what we know'. In reality, we are still all being the same as we are judging the world and forming our perspectives based on our own personal life's experiences.
Until I started truly living and understanding other 'environments' these concepts never truly occurred to me. How human. How we are all so different, and yet so very much the same all at the same time.
I could elaborate much more than this, and originally was going to go into more detail. But I don't feel like it, and it's not really necessary anyway.
Fresh Blood
When I first started hanging out at the VIP (and the other bars on that neighborhood) I still was stuck in the mindset of someone that came from 'my environment'. That would be the corporate professional environment where everyone around you had university or college degrees, and worked very specific and very professional jobs. Jobs that for the most part didn't only require a degree, but very specific degrees or specific training. The girls I dated in university were the same as me. Dedicated students who for the most part studied six to seven nights a week and got mostly A's (usually in one of the science disciplines). I was also athletic in university, lifting wieghts and playing in a men's rugby league.
Upon graduating university I chose from a number of job offers for above average pay. I met Alison, (whom years later I married) the summer after I graduated. She didn't have a degree at all, but was just as intelligent as any of the women I'd dated before (and a little more 'aware' due to more varied life's experiences). When I eventually put her through college, she did get mostly A grades. I also continued staying in shape by playing sports and lifting weights regularly throughout my 20's.
I was living this lifestyle, continuing to build on my successes right up until a couple of weeks earlier. Now I was hanging out in the 'bar scene'. I've changed my perspectives somewhat since due to living more varied life's experiences, but what people don't realize is that at the time I still had a pretty inflated ego. The same as anyone else from 'my environment'. I'll admit it, it is somewhat short-sighted and even perhaps 'snobbish'. People not from that environment have a totally different perspective of what's 'impressive'. Just different views.
I had already had my meaningless fun 'rebound sex' while I was partying with all the hood girls. That was out of the way. Now I was being much more 'particular' when it came to women. To a point anyway. As far as hanging out with and talking to people, I would talk to and enjoy the company of anyone. As far as noncommital s_x went, I would have that with anyone attractive and in half decent shape. But as far anything else, like dating or 'relationships' I still had very high standards. I always had. Besides, I really wasn't looking for anything real yet anyway. My nine year relationship had just ended and I now needed time and space to figure out who I now was as an 'individual' and which path my new life would lead me on. At first, I wasn't really looking to hook up with anybody.
So for the first month or two I was just hanging out. Drinking and partying with Bill and then the karaoke crowd. Socializing and talking with whomever, and basically treating everyone as 'bar friends'. More specifically, I wasn't hitting on anyone (except maybe GFX -- but I always knew that to be a 'work in progress' anyway). This isn't usual for a typical 'barfly'. Which at first made all the barfly women think I was shy.
I was new to everyone on these bar scenes. Fresh blood. So then came the 'first wave'. I kind of refer to it as the 'bottom feeders'. All the barfly women that are generally not very intelligent, and not exactly in 'great shape' that are looking for 'a man'. At first I got hit on left and right by all sorts of women that I had no interest in. Being the type of person that speaks my heart and mind well, and being one not nearly as shy as they mistook me for, I had no problem turning them down. Politely, but firmly and decisively. Some of them were more persistent and I eventually had to be more firm and at times insulting before they 'got it', but eventually they got the hint and let it go. (Except one girl named Connie that developed a huge crush on me that lasted over a year before she quit persisting. I had to get very insulting with her eventually.)
After that, once I got more familiar with 'the environment' and started hanging out with all the more 'popular' people at the bar, things seemed to start changing. Now I was starting to catch the attention of more of the 'higher class' women on the bar scene. I also was much more familiar with this bar scene now and was getting much more flirtatious and outgoing as well. Eventually I'll talk about some of the more memorable people in more detail.
For now, I just wanted to mention this because I found this 'natural order' of things interesting.
I also learned from observing my friends and roommates over the next couple of years that most men on the bar scene are pigs and have no standards what so ever when it comes to f#cking chicks from the bar. These guys were some of the more outgoing and desireable people on the bar scene, but at the end of the night would go home with literally anyone that came on to them. They would also lie, and deceive and say anything if it meant getting laid. Even if they already had girlfriends. This is something that I never could get a grip on or understand.
Upon graduating university I chose from a number of job offers for above average pay. I met Alison, (whom years later I married) the summer after I graduated. She didn't have a degree at all, but was just as intelligent as any of the women I'd dated before (and a little more 'aware' due to more varied life's experiences). When I eventually put her through college, she did get mostly A grades. I also continued staying in shape by playing sports and lifting weights regularly throughout my 20's.
I was living this lifestyle, continuing to build on my successes right up until a couple of weeks earlier. Now I was hanging out in the 'bar scene'. I've changed my perspectives somewhat since due to living more varied life's experiences, but what people don't realize is that at the time I still had a pretty inflated ego. The same as anyone else from 'my environment'. I'll admit it, it is somewhat short-sighted and even perhaps 'snobbish'. People not from that environment have a totally different perspective of what's 'impressive'. Just different views.
I had already had my meaningless fun 'rebound sex' while I was partying with all the hood girls. That was out of the way. Now I was being much more 'particular' when it came to women. To a point anyway. As far as hanging out with and talking to people, I would talk to and enjoy the company of anyone. As far as noncommital s_x went, I would have that with anyone attractive and in half decent shape. But as far anything else, like dating or 'relationships' I still had very high standards. I always had. Besides, I really wasn't looking for anything real yet anyway. My nine year relationship had just ended and I now needed time and space to figure out who I now was as an 'individual' and which path my new life would lead me on. At first, I wasn't really looking to hook up with anybody.
So for the first month or two I was just hanging out. Drinking and partying with Bill and then the karaoke crowd. Socializing and talking with whomever, and basically treating everyone as 'bar friends'. More specifically, I wasn't hitting on anyone (except maybe GFX -- but I always knew that to be a 'work in progress' anyway). This isn't usual for a typical 'barfly'. Which at first made all the barfly women think I was shy.
I was new to everyone on these bar scenes. Fresh blood. So then came the 'first wave'. I kind of refer to it as the 'bottom feeders'. All the barfly women that are generally not very intelligent, and not exactly in 'great shape' that are looking for 'a man'. At first I got hit on left and right by all sorts of women that I had no interest in. Being the type of person that speaks my heart and mind well, and being one not nearly as shy as they mistook me for, I had no problem turning them down. Politely, but firmly and decisively. Some of them were more persistent and I eventually had to be more firm and at times insulting before they 'got it', but eventually they got the hint and let it go. (Except one girl named Connie that developed a huge crush on me that lasted over a year before she quit persisting. I had to get very insulting with her eventually.)
After that, once I got more familiar with 'the environment' and started hanging out with all the more 'popular' people at the bar, things seemed to start changing. Now I was starting to catch the attention of more of the 'higher class' women on the bar scene. I also was much more familiar with this bar scene now and was getting much more flirtatious and outgoing as well. Eventually I'll talk about some of the more memorable people in more detail.
For now, I just wanted to mention this because I found this 'natural order' of things interesting.
I also learned from observing my friends and roommates over the next couple of years that most men on the bar scene are pigs and have no standards what so ever when it comes to f#cking chicks from the bar. These guys were some of the more outgoing and desireable people on the bar scene, but at the end of the night would go home with literally anyone that came on to them. They would also lie, and deceive and say anything if it meant getting laid. Even if they already had girlfriends. This is something that I never could get a grip on or understand.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
the VIP
The VIP was FULL of fun and interesting people. Especially on karaoke night. But even on regular days there were a full compliment of interesting people, guys and girls, at any time of day. Most of them are regulars. But they all had their own 'schedule'. There were the after work regulars that would get there anywhere from 4:00 until 6:00p, and generally left by 8:00 or 9:00p. There was the night time crowd that usually filtered in around 8:00 or 9:00 (but sometimes 7:00ish as well). There was also the daytime 'staples' that were generally just there. Any time. There was also the 'weekenders' who would be there day and night but usually only on the weekends. Many of the weekenders were also part of the after work crowd. Of course karaoke night was the night that the place was PACKED! Especially Wednesday night. The first two years I was going to the VIP, there wasn't a better bar in Columbus on a Wednesday night.
Karaoke started at 9:00p. By 9:00 on the nose, the bar was standing room only. It wasn't a large bar to begin with, about 40 to 50 people could sit around the circular bar, and there was an additional 10 to 12 tables that could fit about four to a table. There was one pool table, one dart board, and a jukebox which was next to the small stage and screen that the karaoke KJ was set up at for karoke night. Also one small buffet table at the back corner where food was sometimes put out.
By 9:00p on karaoke night (especially Wednesday) there was at least 100 people already there. By 10:00p it would be 120 - 150 people. There would be about 24 different karaoke singers in the nightly rotation, at least 12 to 15 (or more) of them would have their first song selections in by 9:00 on the nose. The bar had a good mix of men and women, roughly 60% men and 40% women. Most were in their 20's, and another large percentage in their early 30's, as well as some in their 40's. EVERYBODY at this bar was into fun and partying. The patrons were all about mixing with one another and often went home with each other after hours.
Karaoke and pool were the center of attention. With one pool table, everyone put their name on the chalk board to play and the winner kept going. There was always 10 or more names on the board at any given time. The pool table had it's own rotation and the players were mostly all 'regulars' on the table. Unofficially everyone knew where they 'ranked' as far as best to worst at the table. But there was lots of good competition and some of them (not me and my friends) took it WAY too personally. Those are the ones that I LOVED to beat, because you could see they actually 'cared' when they won or lost. None of those guys sang karoke. The karaoke crowd only cared about having fun (and many were there to get laid as well).
When I started hanging out at the VIP I was only 'mediocre' at pool. While being married I'd only shoot pool a few times a year. But now that I was single and at the bars every night, I was shooting pool pretty much every night. It didn't take long before I started getting quite good. In fact, the way I always put it was that I wasn't good at pool, but I beat good players all the time. Mind you, they beat me as well. But I could hold my own against any of them and within a few months I could hold the table as long as any of them. Which REALLY pissed off the 'pool only' crowd because they actually cared about pool (rather than fun) and it was their source of pride to be able to hold the table. Meanwhile, all me and my friends cared about was having a great time, lots of fun, and wild reckless abandon, especially with the ladies. Before long, we were doing as well as they were at pool, only we only cared because we knew how much it pissed them off. It was funny, and to us EVERYTHING was about the fun.
Karaoke is what really ruled. The first few months that I hung out at the VIP, I didn't sing. I was a good singer as a child and really enjoyed it. But as an adult, it had been over 12 years since I had sang anything. My voice just wasn't there any more. But most of the fun karaoke singers also shot pool. So I got to know them, and I would hang out with all of them, sit at the bar or tables with them, and join in on the 'pitcher' rotations. (A group of us would all share the $5 pitchers of beer and all take turns buying.) Of course Bill was with me as well, but as I mentioned earlier, once he got drunk he just didn't fit in with the rest of us because of his 'hood boy' mentality. He's used to the hood, and the hood has totally different rules and mind sets than 'regular society'.
It's not quite like this anymore (or maybe it's because I'm not as young looking anymore), but back then (2000, 2001, 2002) the good or even decent karaoke singers in the bar were treated with a semi-celebrity status. Most of the fun people in the bar were single and there to socialize and hopefully get laid. Or at least flirt and/or make out with the other fun people. The girls (and guys for that matter) paid most attention to the karoke singers. I think it had a lot to do with the fact it gave them an 'in' as something to talk about. Go up and tell him how good he or she did at their song. How great their voice was. Can you sing this song for me?, etc. etc. The bottom line is that the karoke singers had more fun and got laid more than anyone. Luckily, because I was hanging out with all the karaoke crowd I eventually got included in this category. In fact, long before I ever started singing, because all my best friends were the karaoke regulars, women would be coming up to me to ask what I was singing that night.
The most beautiful thing about the VIP (and other bars in the 'karoke circuit') was that for the most part the women would approach you and hit on you without you even having to hit on them. That's what made karaoke so 'magical' back then. EVERYONE just wanted to have fun, flirt, make out, and get laid. I was living the dream...
Karaoke started at 9:00p. By 9:00 on the nose, the bar was standing room only. It wasn't a large bar to begin with, about 40 to 50 people could sit around the circular bar, and there was an additional 10 to 12 tables that could fit about four to a table. There was one pool table, one dart board, and a jukebox which was next to the small stage and screen that the karaoke KJ was set up at for karoke night. Also one small buffet table at the back corner where food was sometimes put out.
By 9:00p on karaoke night (especially Wednesday) there was at least 100 people already there. By 10:00p it would be 120 - 150 people. There would be about 24 different karaoke singers in the nightly rotation, at least 12 to 15 (or more) of them would have their first song selections in by 9:00 on the nose. The bar had a good mix of men and women, roughly 60% men and 40% women. Most were in their 20's, and another large percentage in their early 30's, as well as some in their 40's. EVERYBODY at this bar was into fun and partying. The patrons were all about mixing with one another and often went home with each other after hours.
Karaoke and pool were the center of attention. With one pool table, everyone put their name on the chalk board to play and the winner kept going. There was always 10 or more names on the board at any given time. The pool table had it's own rotation and the players were mostly all 'regulars' on the table. Unofficially everyone knew where they 'ranked' as far as best to worst at the table. But there was lots of good competition and some of them (not me and my friends) took it WAY too personally. Those are the ones that I LOVED to beat, because you could see they actually 'cared' when they won or lost. None of those guys sang karoke. The karaoke crowd only cared about having fun (and many were there to get laid as well).
When I started hanging out at the VIP I was only 'mediocre' at pool. While being married I'd only shoot pool a few times a year. But now that I was single and at the bars every night, I was shooting pool pretty much every night. It didn't take long before I started getting quite good. In fact, the way I always put it was that I wasn't good at pool, but I beat good players all the time. Mind you, they beat me as well. But I could hold my own against any of them and within a few months I could hold the table as long as any of them. Which REALLY pissed off the 'pool only' crowd because they actually cared about pool (rather than fun) and it was their source of pride to be able to hold the table. Meanwhile, all me and my friends cared about was having a great time, lots of fun, and wild reckless abandon, especially with the ladies. Before long, we were doing as well as they were at pool, only we only cared because we knew how much it pissed them off. It was funny, and to us EVERYTHING was about the fun.
Karaoke is what really ruled. The first few months that I hung out at the VIP, I didn't sing. I was a good singer as a child and really enjoyed it. But as an adult, it had been over 12 years since I had sang anything. My voice just wasn't there any more. But most of the fun karaoke singers also shot pool. So I got to know them, and I would hang out with all of them, sit at the bar or tables with them, and join in on the 'pitcher' rotations. (A group of us would all share the $5 pitchers of beer and all take turns buying.) Of course Bill was with me as well, but as I mentioned earlier, once he got drunk he just didn't fit in with the rest of us because of his 'hood boy' mentality. He's used to the hood, and the hood has totally different rules and mind sets than 'regular society'.
It's not quite like this anymore (or maybe it's because I'm not as young looking anymore), but back then (2000, 2001, 2002) the good or even decent karaoke singers in the bar were treated with a semi-celebrity status. Most of the fun people in the bar were single and there to socialize and hopefully get laid. Or at least flirt and/or make out with the other fun people. The girls (and guys for that matter) paid most attention to the karoke singers. I think it had a lot to do with the fact it gave them an 'in' as something to talk about. Go up and tell him how good he or she did at their song. How great their voice was. Can you sing this song for me?, etc. etc. The bottom line is that the karoke singers had more fun and got laid more than anyone. Luckily, because I was hanging out with all the karaoke crowd I eventually got included in this category. In fact, long before I ever started singing, because all my best friends were the karaoke regulars, women would be coming up to me to ask what I was singing that night.
The most beautiful thing about the VIP (and other bars in the 'karoke circuit') was that for the most part the women would approach you and hit on you without you even having to hit on them. That's what made karaoke so 'magical' back then. EVERYONE just wanted to have fun, flirt, make out, and get laid. I was living the dream...
Sunday, April 19, 2009
You Didn't Just Say That!
The first night that we went to the VIP was a tuesday. There was this really cool hot chick behind the bar named Katie. She was about 25 years old. Being a tuesday it was pretty slow, but that didn't stop me and Bill from having our usual blast of a time. Katie talked to us most of the night. Then I found out that she had a Irish and German heritage. Two of my three favourites! I told her I was in love! We eventually left there to go to Rosie's. As we were walking out I jokingly said to Bill, "She's my future wife, she just doesn't know it yet!" That's why we nicknamed her GFW. Which stands for Glen's Future Wife (my name is Glen). A few weeks later, after I got to know her volatile personality a little better I re-nicknamed her GFX, for Glen's Future Ex-Wife.
We dropped into the VIP again on Thursday. Behind the bar was this other super hot cool chick. She couldn't have been any more than 22 years old. Her name was Emily, but we nicknamed her "MyGirl" because she was just SOOOOO sweet and cute! Sitting at the bar was this other hot cool chick who also was a bartender there. She was 22 as well. We sat with her and chatted her up all night. Her name was Lindsay, but we nicknamed her "Smiley" because she made a point to never smile. This of course is a challenge for me, because I LOVE to make people smile, and always can. So I preceded to make her smile and laugh all night. So far, we were LOVING this bar!
We went back the next night and ANOTHER cool hot chick was behind the bar. She was in her 30's and we'd eventually nickname her "Wild Child" due to an incident that happened a couple weeks later. That was when we started hanging out at the 'other' karaoke bars and she was a patron at one of them. Totally sh!t-faced drunk, wearing HOT tight biker leather, and hanging all over her biker boyfriend (whom we later got to know). She recognized us from across the bar and ran over and jumped in our laps. Then nearly fell over because she was so drunk. Her man eventually had to come and get her before she passed out.
But back to Friday night at the VIP. This night, both Smiley and GFW were sitting at a table as patrons. Which was awesome! I did have a thing for GFW! After a little while I went over and chatted with them for a bit. At one point I asked GFW, "So, what's the chances of getting to know you better?" She replied rather tactfully, "If you keep hanging out at this bar, then you'll get to know me better." I said, "Fair enough." I chatted a while longer and eventually went back to my seat at the bar. Me and Bill were sitting at the corner of the bar near the jukebox. Towards the end of the night, GFW was feeding the jukebox right next to us. So I got up and started chatting with her again. After a moment I asked, "So seriously, what is the chance of getting to know you better?" She says, "Seriously?" I say, "Yes". She then points to the guy standing five feet away whos intensely GLARING at me, and says, "That's my man right there." I look at him. He's just this short little dark haired guy in his mid 30's. He really doesn't look like much. I look at him. (He's glaring.) Then look back at her, and say, "Oh,....So when are you breaking up with him?"
Bill is sitting next to where I'm standing and says, "Oh, you didn't just say that!" And then just breaks down laughing. I couldn't hold a straight face either, and I start laughing also. In fact, me and Bill were always laughing and having fun over something. Katie responds back to me, "When hell freezes over!" But even she was smiling and almost laughing with us.
This guy's name was Mark. What I DIDN'T know, is that he was the bar's owner! Oops. How was I to know?
The other thing is that he and Katie (GFW) were having problems, and she was soon to dump him.
From that day on, Mark (whom we soon nicknamed "YoBoy" and "Junior" for incidents that occur at a later date) serously disliked me! But we didn't really care. We found it rather amusing. It's not like he was going to bar us or anything. We drank a lot every time we were there and were fun patrons that everyone liked. Mark is a small business owner and wants to make his profits. Mark was always 'civil' to me, but never hid his disdain for me and spoke to me as little as possible. Meanwhile, he did like our patronage so ALWAYS treated Bill extremeley well, talking to him like they are old best buddies.
Me and Bill started hanging out there almost nightly. We were always laughing and having fun so all the fun people liked to hang with us and share in the fun. GFW was the bar manager, so was always there, and usually not behind the bar. Usually she was talking to and shooting pool with the patrons. Mark FOREBADE her from talking with us, but whenever he wasn't around she was always hanging out with us. Every time Mark would leave and then come back, she would be over with us (and all the other fun patrons with us). This made Mark dislike me even more.
Oh well.
We dropped into the VIP again on Thursday. Behind the bar was this other super hot cool chick. She couldn't have been any more than 22 years old. Her name was Emily, but we nicknamed her "MyGirl" because she was just SOOOOO sweet and cute! Sitting at the bar was this other hot cool chick who also was a bartender there. She was 22 as well. We sat with her and chatted her up all night. Her name was Lindsay, but we nicknamed her "Smiley" because she made a point to never smile. This of course is a challenge for me, because I LOVE to make people smile, and always can. So I preceded to make her smile and laugh all night. So far, we were LOVING this bar!
We went back the next night and ANOTHER cool hot chick was behind the bar. She was in her 30's and we'd eventually nickname her "Wild Child" due to an incident that happened a couple weeks later. That was when we started hanging out at the 'other' karaoke bars and she was a patron at one of them. Totally sh!t-faced drunk, wearing HOT tight biker leather, and hanging all over her biker boyfriend (whom we later got to know). She recognized us from across the bar and ran over and jumped in our laps. Then nearly fell over because she was so drunk. Her man eventually had to come and get her before she passed out.
But back to Friday night at the VIP. This night, both Smiley and GFW were sitting at a table as patrons. Which was awesome! I did have a thing for GFW! After a little while I went over and chatted with them for a bit. At one point I asked GFW, "So, what's the chances of getting to know you better?" She replied rather tactfully, "If you keep hanging out at this bar, then you'll get to know me better." I said, "Fair enough." I chatted a while longer and eventually went back to my seat at the bar. Me and Bill were sitting at the corner of the bar near the jukebox. Towards the end of the night, GFW was feeding the jukebox right next to us. So I got up and started chatting with her again. After a moment I asked, "So seriously, what is the chance of getting to know you better?" She says, "Seriously?" I say, "Yes". She then points to the guy standing five feet away whos intensely GLARING at me, and says, "That's my man right there." I look at him. He's just this short little dark haired guy in his mid 30's. He really doesn't look like much. I look at him. (He's glaring.) Then look back at her, and say, "Oh,....So when are you breaking up with him?"
Bill is sitting next to where I'm standing and says, "Oh, you didn't just say that!" And then just breaks down laughing. I couldn't hold a straight face either, and I start laughing also. In fact, me and Bill were always laughing and having fun over something. Katie responds back to me, "When hell freezes over!" But even she was smiling and almost laughing with us.
This guy's name was Mark. What I DIDN'T know, is that he was the bar's owner! Oops. How was I to know?
The other thing is that he and Katie (GFW) were having problems, and she was soon to dump him.
From that day on, Mark (whom we soon nicknamed "YoBoy" and "Junior" for incidents that occur at a later date) serously disliked me! But we didn't really care. We found it rather amusing. It's not like he was going to bar us or anything. We drank a lot every time we were there and were fun patrons that everyone liked. Mark is a small business owner and wants to make his profits. Mark was always 'civil' to me, but never hid his disdain for me and spoke to me as little as possible. Meanwhile, he did like our patronage so ALWAYS treated Bill extremeley well, talking to him like they are old best buddies.
Me and Bill started hanging out there almost nightly. We were always laughing and having fun so all the fun people liked to hang with us and share in the fun. GFW was the bar manager, so was always there, and usually not behind the bar. Usually she was talking to and shooting pool with the patrons. Mark FOREBADE her from talking with us, but whenever he wasn't around she was always hanging out with us. Every time Mark would leave and then come back, she would be over with us (and all the other fun patrons with us). This made Mark dislike me even more.
Oh well.
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