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| A well deserved drink |
On Saturday night, my husband and I enjoyed a kids-free night out, thanks to wonderful friends who agreed to take both children for a sleepover. We headed down to the local pub for a few drinks, nothing fancy, but it was nice to spend some quality time together.
When I say "together", I mean the two us with occasional weird drunk people interrupting our conversation... I don't know what it is, but every time we go out together, we end up being caught in some strange encounters.
A few weeks ago, we met that guy who kept ranting about the fact that the French student he was lodging for a few weeks hated football and didn't want to participate in any family activities. He probably thought that being French, I would commiserate about the situation. I don't know how this came out, but he even told us he was an ex-convict and spent 10 years in jail in the UK. Now that's something I really really didn't need to know. He eventually left, after forgetting his change on the bar. I should have taken the money, just for the hassle. But I'm honest.
This time, not one, but two men started to talk to us. One of them was fascinated by my electronic cigarette. The other kept talking about his life in Chicago and how he was coming back to see his dad, who was living in the village. They couldn't get their head around the fact that I was French and Fabrice from Mauritius. They actually thought I was Irish. Well, that I looked Irish to be exact. I don't know if I have to take it as a compliment, but strangely, it's not the first time someone makes that remark. Maybe it's all about the Celtic origins?
They kept going on and on about how "lovely" we were, and how we were a "wonderful couple". And how great it was to see an Irish girl with a French man (For the last time, I'm French. He's from Mauritius!). I thought they were never going to leave but they eventually did and we managed to finish our evening in some sort of peace.
Having said that, what I like about Irish pubs in general, is that you never know who you might end up talking to. Fair enough there will always be some amount of weirdos and drunk, but sometimes, you meet great people in the pub (that's where I met my husband after all!). That's the place where friendship are formed, love stories begin, life events are celebrated.
As we were leaving, I looked around and saw people of all ages and that's something you wouldn't really see in France. To me, the pub is still important in the Irish society, especially in villages. It's a social link, and our local is a very good example.
It keeps the community together.
