Sometimes it's through choice, obviously. Not every singleton is constantly on the search for someone to turn them into a couple. Other times it's simply that they've had other stuff to do. Stuff which, to them, is more important for now. Until the world turns, and Cupid catches up with them.
Well, Cupid finally caught up with an old colleague of mine. Someone who these days I only see about once a year, but for whom another old colleague organised a small get-together of similarly well-dispersed friends. I didn't know he was getting married until the email arrived to invite me to tonight's event which I guess we can call a stag do, even though it didn't involve strippers, or large quantities of alcohol, or being chained naked to anything. Thank God. But, you know, despite my somewhat jaded view of marriage, good luck to him. The statistics may be against him (1 in every 2 marriages in the UK now fail, apparently), but they're probably skewed by all those hotheaded youngsters rushing down the aisle before they really know who they are, never mind who each other is. Having left it this long before "settling down" I'm sure he'll be fine.
Anyway we started off at the Bollin Fee in Wilmslow, which can apparently get a little wild at weekends but which, at 7pm on a Wednesday night resembled a doctor's waiting room in the middle of a swine flu epidemic more than it did a shopping mall on the first day of sales. The six of us were - almost - their only custom. So the landlord must have been a little disappointed when we packed up after only two pints and headed off to Garlic Spice, a small Indian restaurant tucked away around the corner on Bank Square.
What a find this place is! "Summer Special" on the menu gets you a poppadum, a starter, a main, a side dish, rice and naan, all for £8.95. And a gut-busting £8.95s-worth it is too. I almost couldn't finish it. Almost. Once again, we were their only custom. Denizens of Wilmslow apparently don't venture out much in the week. Maybe that's why they go so mad on a weekend? Still, we weren't complaining. Having the place to ourselves just meant the service was excellent, as was the food, and we could relax and enjoy a whole load of catch-up conversation and wit, discuss the issues of the day, and offer Simon some handy tips on matrimony. Which, if he's any sense at all, he will totally ignore.
2 comments:
I thought 8.95 was a great price for what you got in that meal. Then I translated that to Canadian dollars, and it wasn't such a good deal.
One thing I learned from visiting the UK was that I had to stop translating money and treat a pound like a dollar. Then everything made sense.
I was out of pocket more, but I could at least enjoy myself without worrying about exchange.
Ah well Don, *everything* here is expensive if you're going to convert the price to $CAD. Over here, 8.95 IS a good price. When you consider that the cheapest main course was around 6.95, so we were effectively getting everything else for two quid. Bargain.
I couldn't do it more than once a month though. I was stuffed!
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