Banned from Wetherspoon's.

More so here than back home, is the following: Christmas work party. I've been to at least one work party of Monroney's faculty and staff and I may have attended others. Usually they're held at the home of a faculty member and it can be surreal visiting the home of someone you see everyday but don't know that well. I don't remember many of these parties very well, mainly I guess because nothing much happened that was memorable. And the people were people I saw nearly every day. Nearly, because some days, you don't always see each faculty member that you work with. I'd like to think that I connected with everyone I worked with at least once, just so that I cannot be accused of ignoring some individuals. I think I've gotten off track already.

On Saturday, I met up with the crazies from the charity shop for our Christmas work party. Based on the adverts I've seen around , I suppose it's more common to have the work party at a restaurant/bar/pub. There are all sorts of incentives; lower prices if you book early, special menu, SPACE. Ours wasn't tame. Originally, the plan was to go to Wetherspoon's, the pub/restaurant next door to the shop. Easy to get to, everybody knows where it is, blah blah blah. And it's very reasonably priced and comfortable. Has a fireplace. I'm looking forward to it actually.

I text Laura to let her know I'm on my way. She replies that she'll be waiting for me at the station. I text back, pragmatic and all, "Nah, go on and get a table {smiley face}." because I know that being the Saturday before Christmas, things are likely to be busy. I arrive at the bus station, and there's Laura with her new boyfriend, and Lauren and John. This ticks me off. I want to yell at her, "For crying out loud, this is going to be a busy night and I'd like to be able to sit at a table and not stand because I'm wearing a pair of 3 inch stiletto boots and I'm not going to want to stand the entire night because these damn boots are already killing my knees!"

But what I said instead was, "Are we waiting for somebody?" Oh no, just me. Well, what are we waiting for, let's go across the street! Apparently, Wetherspoon's is off. Lee's been banned.

What? How does one go about getting banned from a chain pub? I'm not surprised, Lee's a bit of a meth-head to my mind. He's nice, but he's a spaz. They're all spazzes.  Here's how it happens that I don't get to go to Wetherspoon's and instead, have to go to Yates. Lee and Shelley get drunk at Wetherspoon's. They're kicked out for what must be inappropriate or anti-social behavior. They snuck back in, got kicked back out again. Lee then became mouthy with the manager.

To be fair, Yates has good deals too. And the road to hell is paved with them. And when one goes out to drink in the UK, one must think ahead. For instance, the press of bodies at the bar is unsavoury. I hate it. Every pub seems to be the same. People, mainly men, order their pints, receive them and then proceed to stay put. They don't leave. So it gets very crowded there and that's why you've got to think ahead. Otherwise, each time you're out of beverage, you've got to brave the throng of aging chavs. You could be in danger of spilling their pint if you keep going back and forth and no one wants to see that. It isn't pretty.

So, my version of thinking ahead is to get the big glass of wine, 250 mL. I leave with a glass... and the bottle. Well, why not? It was only £5.95. Not a bad deal. Especially if it prevents me from dealing with belligerent baldies. Seriously. They could see I was wanting to get to the till, but did they move even a shoulder? NO.

Really, I'm making this sound as if I had a ghastly time. I didn't. I had a lovely time.

Front row: Lauren and Lee
Back: Me, Shelley, Laura, and Laura's new beau, Matt
Not pictured: John, Chris, and Chris

Even if there was trauma drama going on between Lauren, Lee and Shelley, I still had a fun time out. How could I not?

But, because I'm the old lady of the club, I left at around 8:45. Mainly, because of my damn boots. I'm never wearing those again. And also because the youngins' wanted to go to Studio. Not my scene, really.