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Lest I seem too negative
Mar. 7th, 2009 09:54 amI feel like I should offset my last entry with a few happy observations I made last night.
At the end of the workday, I met up with one of my colleagues, and we spent a little time wandering around the high-end mall near our office, where I helped her find a dress for a wedding she's attending next month. It was a pretty quick excursion as far as shopping goes, and when we were done we joined forces with her boyfriend and moseyed over to a pub we like. The plan was to have a quick drink, and then they had to meet up with another friend of hers for dinner, leaving me to my own devices for the rest of the night.
I was kind of dreading the prospect of flying solo, but I know it's something I need to get used to, and so I tried to be content knowing that I'd be in good company for at least an hour or so. We reached the bar, and were surprised to find a friendly basset hound waiting for us at the door. We each gave him a pat to greet him, and made a beeline for the back of the room, where we were fortunate enough to find three empty stools. I looked around after we'd bellied up to the bar and ordered our drinks, noting another puppy, this one some kind of mutt.
The bartender explained that the dogs belonged to a couple regulars, were pretty well-behaved and rarely barked, and so they were given free reign to roam about as they pleased. I thought this was awesome considering how much I love dogs, and made sure to interact with them whenever they came by, letting the basset hound sniff my hand and petting him for as long as he cared to linger.
A third dog showed up a bit later, so I was in doggie heaven. I got a little pissed at one point when I saw a guy attempting to slip the basset hound some beer, but the level of drink in his pint was low enough that the dog wasn't able to reach it, and so he gave up and lumbered off to sniff someone else.
Eventually the dogs roamed out of my range of sight, and so I had to find something else to focus on. That came in the form of a woman a few stools down. She caught my attention because I saw she was reading a comic, which at a quick glance I was able to identify as Watchmen. Crazy how that works, considering the fact that I've never read the book, have only given its pages a casual flip here and there. Can't disable the geek radar, I guess, and that's okay because I like being able to spot my own kind, even if I don't feel qualified to claim comic book geekery as an area of expertise.
Anyway, the reason I found this woman so interesting was because by all appearances she was alone, and completely at ease in her solitude. I think I've mentioned before that I'm cool with being a loner for the most part, but I don't know if I'd ever be ballsy enough to go out for a drink just so I could break out a book on the bartop. I've sat alone reading at cafes, I've taken myself out for nice dinners, and I've even ventured to the movies without a partner, but I think I'd be way too self-conscious to feel comfortable losing myself in story and drink in a public setting.
I guess I just thought it was admirable. To be someone who just doesn't give a shit what anyone thinks. Gives me something to aspire to when I'm not distracted by the need to pet puppies! :)
At the end of the workday, I met up with one of my colleagues, and we spent a little time wandering around the high-end mall near our office, where I helped her find a dress for a wedding she's attending next month. It was a pretty quick excursion as far as shopping goes, and when we were done we joined forces with her boyfriend and moseyed over to a pub we like. The plan was to have a quick drink, and then they had to meet up with another friend of hers for dinner, leaving me to my own devices for the rest of the night.
I was kind of dreading the prospect of flying solo, but I know it's something I need to get used to, and so I tried to be content knowing that I'd be in good company for at least an hour or so. We reached the bar, and were surprised to find a friendly basset hound waiting for us at the door. We each gave him a pat to greet him, and made a beeline for the back of the room, where we were fortunate enough to find three empty stools. I looked around after we'd bellied up to the bar and ordered our drinks, noting another puppy, this one some kind of mutt.
The bartender explained that the dogs belonged to a couple regulars, were pretty well-behaved and rarely barked, and so they were given free reign to roam about as they pleased. I thought this was awesome considering how much I love dogs, and made sure to interact with them whenever they came by, letting the basset hound sniff my hand and petting him for as long as he cared to linger.
A third dog showed up a bit later, so I was in doggie heaven. I got a little pissed at one point when I saw a guy attempting to slip the basset hound some beer, but the level of drink in his pint was low enough that the dog wasn't able to reach it, and so he gave up and lumbered off to sniff someone else.
Eventually the dogs roamed out of my range of sight, and so I had to find something else to focus on. That came in the form of a woman a few stools down. She caught my attention because I saw she was reading a comic, which at a quick glance I was able to identify as Watchmen. Crazy how that works, considering the fact that I've never read the book, have only given its pages a casual flip here and there. Can't disable the geek radar, I guess, and that's okay because I like being able to spot my own kind, even if I don't feel qualified to claim comic book geekery as an area of expertise.
Anyway, the reason I found this woman so interesting was because by all appearances she was alone, and completely at ease in her solitude. I think I've mentioned before that I'm cool with being a loner for the most part, but I don't know if I'd ever be ballsy enough to go out for a drink just so I could break out a book on the bartop. I've sat alone reading at cafes, I've taken myself out for nice dinners, and I've even ventured to the movies without a partner, but I think I'd be way too self-conscious to feel comfortable losing myself in story and drink in a public setting.
I guess I just thought it was admirable. To be someone who just doesn't give a shit what anyone thinks. Gives me something to aspire to when I'm not distracted by the need to pet puppies! :)
