Many mornings begin with a reading of the blog and its related stories – today was such a day. I note with satisfaction that the blogs have become not daily, but every second day. I am beginning to practice restraint. There is a slight problem with that as so many things happen and they are not mentioned Oh the problems of leading such a rich and full life! Hahahaha
Very often this happens. Something bad happens but then, out of the mess, out of the despair, something good happens that would not have occurred if the bad luck, karma or whatever had not taken place. Thursday night was an example of that. I was stood up – supposed to meet two men for dinner and they did not show up. It was the fault of one man, not the other who I had not met. The known man had, what he called, a “scheduling error”. We spoke on the phone from the restaurant.
Me: This could only happen in Vancouver where people do not honour their social commitments.
He: You mean you have never made a scheduling error.
Me: No, not during my whole life. I have never been stood up before. This is the first time.
He: I thought we were meeting on Friday.
Me: We were never meeting on Friday as I have symphony and it is a special event. It was Thursday.
He: I am truly sorry about the mixup. .
Me: It is OK, I like this restaurant and would never have come here without Sean’s recommendation and I have a credit card and will travel.
He: Laughter
I went on to have the best evening ever. I chatted with everyone and fell in love with the place, my handsome waiter, his mother who is the general manager. If the two guys were there, as promised, all of my attention would have been directed toward them and the world would have missed out on several conversations.
Me: (to two men at an adjoining table) It is so nice to be sitting at an Italian restaurant and hear two men speaking Italian.
He: We are not speaking Italian.
Me: What language are you speaking?
He: Hindu
Me: Are you sure?
Handsome waiter, with some knowledge on the subject, did confirm that indeed that is what they were speaking. So I told EVERYONE that I had been stood up and achieved a great deal of sympathy. I recorded a sassy video and put it on Instagram, took a picture of my yummy food which also went on Instagram and then a selfie with handsome waiter. I was urged to come back again and again and I shall.
Six women sat at an adjoining table. We struck up a conversation and these women were enjoying a night out with one another, a regular occurrence. They all were Industrial Engineers.
Me: That is so impressive, it is absolutely necessary that women educate themselves. That is the only way to avoid poverty and over reliance on men.
They: We agree!
Me: I am going to blog meeting you and our conversation.
Then I looked at my phone which is a perfectly acceptable thing to do when you are dinning alone. The women at the adjoining table had ALL turned off their phones. It was impressive. So I get an email. I almost died in sheer pleasure. The subject line of the email was This is Dave.
He: Firstly: I hope your doing okay and life is treating you well. Secondly: a while back I found a manuscript/draft for your book about your uncle in one of my drawers (I moved into Ross’s old room and you must have given it to him to proof read).
There’s no way I would simply bin something of this of yours and was just wondering what you would like me to do with it?All the best xx
A little background is necessary. I met this young man when i was living in London. We hung out a bit but totally lost touch – I had forgotten about him actually. His nickname will be GG for Greek God, he looks like one (but amazingly he does not think he is good looking). We had really lost touch clearly as he did not know that I had come back to live in Canada. Memories of him came flooding back to me. I wrote back immediately.
Me: My LUV I cannot believe I am hearing from you. Xoxoxo Canadian for xxx. I am coming to London the end of November! I can get the stupid manuscript and I will treat you to lunch again at British Museum (not the British Library stupid) ! I cannot wait to see you!!!! I will go home and confirm my dates and get back to you. I really want to see you when I am there. More when I get home! I live in Vancouver British Columbia Canada 🇨🇦 by the way! You could easily immigrate by the way! How old are you, I do forget!
He: I’d love that. Although you may have to to let me treat you this time. Sorry it’s been so long, life and all. Also I’m the worst for keeping in touch with people. So you moved back to Canada? How come? Suppose we have a lot to catch up on. Xx By the way I am 25, 26 in December.
Me: I guess you a little young for me. Hahahaha
One must realize several things. 1) Brits do not willingly pass around their Xxxx. It is a BIG deal. GG and I had an absolutely meaningful lunch, made more poignant by the jealousy expressed by Funny Man (aka Best of 2016). His assistant told me this story, he observed great consternation on the part of his boss observing GG and me. Consternation shall be the word of the day. A noun: much to his colleagues’ consternation, Victor was awarded the job in Paris: dismay, perturbation, distress, disquiet, discomposure; surprise, amazement, astonishment; alarm, panic, fear, fright, shock. ANTONYMS satisfaction..
Assistant: She is just having lunch with that young man to make you jealous.
He: (banding his arm on the podium) And she is succeeding! She is succeeding! She is succeeding! Why was he so jealous and of what? GG and I were having a very heartfelt profound conversation, I was so impressed with the depth and perception of serious topics. He was not just a pretty face.
But I had forgotten all of this and was reminded only when I read GG’s email. That is how my strange mind operates. Now I would have gotten the email sooner or later so if I was with the two guys I would have gotten to it sooner or later. But since I immediately responded it appears that GG is back in my life. And apparently there will be another opportunity for dinner with these two guys when i return from my trip to San Francisco. All in all it was a win/win. And I learned something, actually many things. But I ain’t telling as I get to keep some secrets.
Furthermore it will be fascinating to get the manuscript of This is Dave. An earlier version of the yet to be completed book.
Last night was an incredible concert performed by the VSO. More about that in the next blog.
