Things That Are Messed Up In The Night

Strange night, yes indeed. I met a few work people for some drinks down at Hapa Izakaya on Robson. I went with the intention of not only abstaining from eating crappy, unhealthy food, but also for drinking booze. I did fairly well on both fronts, and basically shadowed everyone around all night. We ended up at the Morrisey in Vancouver, and just chilled out there for a while.

Near the end of the night, when most people from work had left, my friend Derek and I were just chilling out and thinking about calling it a night. At that time, this girl named Mel (from New Zealand) asked if she could sit down with us and have a few drinks. We spent the next few hours just talking about Canada and what not, and what she thought of it. It turns out she was 31, and she had two kids and a husband in Canada (even though she hadn’t spent much time here).

The strange thing was that her kids were at home, as was her husband, yet she was dressed to the nines, in a short skirt, out on the town in a foreign town by herself (something that wasn’t lost on me). It was obvious to me that she had been through some recent tough times, but didn’t really feel like talking about it, so I didn’t press her. That being said, I was conscientious of the fact, and left the door open should she want to talk.

Anyways, skip ahead a few hours, and we all found ourselves at the Two Parrots. Derek and I had both picked up her tab in an effort to sort of put her cart back on the track, but I really wasn’t sure if it was working. When Derek left, I thought I’d take one last stab at seeing if I could help her sort some shit out or something, but it was pretty clear she was out on the town (at least to me) to forget about her husband at some level. Strangely enough, when Derek and I were both making motions to leave, she sort of stopped being nice, and focused her attention on a group of young guys. I offered to pay for a cab for her to get home safely, but she decided to stay and drink.

And honestly, to each their own. But I can’t say that I’m not a bit disappointed that I saw someone, who was nice on the surface at least, make motions to undo a family she had spent a great deal of time building. I’ve never cheated on a girlfriend of mine, and I plan to never be the other guy that ends up being at the receiving end of a cheat. So to see a marriage unfold in front of my eyes at some level was a bit disconcerting. But I did what was in my power to stop it from happening, even though it didn’t work.

I’m heading home to Chilliwack this weekend. I’m not sure if I’ll go tomorrow or Saturday, but I have a 50th anniversary to attend on Saturday out there. I don’t get nearly enough time to go back home these days, and am looking forward to seeing some family. These last few months have seemed to stretch on forever, and truthfully, I’m fairly tired and burnt out. I’ve scheduled a full two weeks off at Christmas, and I’m definitely looking to just curling up on my couch and relaxing during that period.