November 01, 2006

Getting out

Ah the joys of leaving one's house; even if only for a short evening of dispirited dancing. I was the dispirited part of the dancing. The partners were fine. For the most part. American Todd is acutely missed already. But, neither you nor I am here to grieve his departure. Instead I have two short tales to tell before I brush my teeth and tuck myself into bed. (Pray god it's warm tonight)

Vicky sent me a text today to see if I was making it to swing tonight. She was debuting her new dress and I guess wanted a little support. Or she just wanted to brag. I don't know her that well, so it could have been either. Then FFS called to see if I was on for tonight since she's already in town for her autumn break. As much as I wanted to curl up on the sofa, watch movies and remain in my day long funk, I said yes and trudged to the train station. On the way there, I spied a group of 7 or 8 kids, boys, all between 8 and 10 years old. Not an unusual sight, but they were crouched in the gutter with their heads on the curb staring at me as I approached. For some very sick reason, I immediately thought of the opening scenes from American History X and was primed to leap into action, lest any Neo-Nazi shenanigans occur. They didn't, obviously; they're kids! Instead, as I passed by them, they serenaded me. Sort of. Evidently the only song they all knew was the Ole! Ole! Ole! chant from the football stadiums, so they sprang up all around me, sang and clapped and cheered. For about a half a block I was surrounded by dancing midgets. It was cute. When it was finally down the last one, they sort of peeled off as I got further away, I thanked him, he smiled at me and said, just before running back to his friends, "We just wanted to make you happy!". They did.

Swing wasn't an entirely wasted evening after that. I danced with a couple of interesting people, had a short chat with FFS and approved of Vicky's new frock. Then I came home early. Just not in the mood for much tonight. But I stopped in the Spar near the house (Spar is the 7-11 of Ireland) to pick up a lunch for tomorrow. I was perusing the ready-made soups when a Lionel Ritchie song came on the Muzak. Nothing speeds a decision like hearing your teen-age love songs in a conveinence store. I placed the items on the counter and was waiting for him to finish bagging everything when I heard it; the man behind me was singing along to Lionel. And then the girls to my left joined in. And the man to my right, behind the ice cream case. In fact, the entire store, save me, was singing along. Not a bad choir actually, but they could have used a director.

And that was my evening. How was yours?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Right now, I'm up late with a cold working over a warm laptop and listening to "In the Air Tonight" by Phil Collins on VH1 online. What a night! Uh oh. Now it's "Against all Odds." Speaking of 80's, what should I wear at our Beax Arts Ball friday? The theme is 80's videogames/toys. I'm thinking of going as a trivial pursuit card.

B said...

Against All Odds was the song of my first boyfriend, who subsequently moved to Rhode Island. Needless to say, we succumbed to the distance. Sickly appropriate song though.

I think the trivial pursuit card is a great idea!

Anonymous said...

Strangely, 'Easy Lover' by Sir Phil Collins is on satellite radio as I type this........that's all I have to say about that........megaron

F John said...

B,
Sorry I haven't been around lately. Too busy at work for reading, too busy since I've been home... You know the drill. These are great stories, btw. It would be appear the people of Ireland are totally insane. In a good way.
4