Late Night Musings

So. At the writing of this post, it is about 2:06am. I've been out and about in my merry old town/city of Ripon and in true form I've managed to drink enough rum to make my wallet cry. Spending so much of my hard earned (read: somewhat earned) cash on such pointless endeavours as booze should really bug me. But it doesn't. Know why? Beacause I had a fun. I'm relatively shy around new people, a fact that isn't lost on those who know me well. Sure I'll put on a brave face and spout words and phrases that seem normal enough. But really it's just things I've learnt to say and do around the average pub-goer, that I've learned from spending much of my childhood around such folk and in such places. Please note this is not a "I grew up in bars" plea, but just a staement of the fact my father is an avid (putting it weakly) football player and fan and as such, spent a lot of his free time playing in local teams. Me being the adorable (shut up, I was!) child was brought along. But I'm missing the point.
So i've done my bit. I've met the new people my friends have brought with, put on my most comfortable charm and gone about my business as if I'd known them for years. I'd drank enough to spurt easy humour as regualr as Old Faithful, but not too much as to hamper my judgment. A fact made all the more clear by the refusal of takeaway for health reasons. QED, fun was had. We laughed. We danced. We bonded. Yet for all the merriment that was had I can safely say I will probably never hear from any of the new folk again. I still don't remember their names, but then, my memory is freakishly selective. The question remains then, that is all the mirth and pleasantries spent on these then-and-now future strangers, worth it? Would it not be easier overall to merely spend the time amongst those you know? The comfort zone so named because it is where we feel we fit in the scheme of things. Short answer: Yes. But I pity anyone who doesn't go out and flood themselves with rum, all the while flirting with the danger of the new person.

It's safe to say I'd lost the point I was going to make quite a while ago. But I felt this blog wasn't complete without semi-drunk post. If I could manage it, I'd be going off on tangents until I accidentally got back the orignal subject. In fact, I'm doing it right now!