#4 Old Friends, Same Places
#4 Why do we keep meeting old friends in the same places?
It was a week of reunions for me.
With everyone having trickled back from university, whether departing fully or taking the summer, a lot of old folk returned to our town this week, so I thought I'd say hey.
Met a friend of mine for lunch on Friday, and we had a lovely time I can assure you, however tired I've been. However it felt like our relationship had changed somewhat? I didn't realise it had been a YEAR since she came down to Falmouth, and that being when I saw her last. Crazy how fast time moves on.
Then Saturday night was the big one. After going for dinner with my Dad (had some beautiful ribs, in Bill's in Newbury, with some damn tasty spicy sauce mmmm) I met up with some old pals in the Market Place to watch a Killers tribute act (The Kopycat Killers; they were pretty good, but their Brandon was less than convincing). We danced, we sang, we laughed at our own antics. It was great.
Then we went back to hang out with lots of other folk in a similar predicament, in the Catherine Wheel. As if we hadn't spent enough time there over the years.
Everyone seemed to pretty much be the same person, I even found myself diving into my old ways. My voice got louder, accent more prominent, and I felt like making jokes about every single person there, however long it had been since I'd seen them. We had the magic guy sat there doing magic, the pessimists moping, the misery being thrown around, the optimists cracking their sharp wits, and the historian historicising.
It's incredible how hard our habits die. We then went on to Walkabout, which appears to be much the same as Diamond Tap used to be. We all did the same things; bought gin and tonics, socialised, mingled with strangers, danced like lunatics, and set off into the groups of people we had spent the rest of sixth form nights out grouping with. It was depressingly like old times.
For the rest of my week, I had tasted good beer, been reading a good book (Espedair Street, by Iain Banks) watching good TV (Lost In Space) and generally enjoying myself hanging out with contemporaries and such. Also, the weather was GORGEOUS.
But I can't help but wander why we fall back into these bad habits upon meeting old friends. Is it even that bad? Or is it just human nature to be habitual in our socialising? With all the history involved emotionally with some of those folk, it's a miracle that things don't get worse. Perhaps these are things we should be more grateful and optimistic about. After all, if you click your fingers, you may not have seen them for 10 years.
It was a week of reunions for me.
With everyone having trickled back from university, whether departing fully or taking the summer, a lot of old folk returned to our town this week, so I thought I'd say hey.
Met a friend of mine for lunch on Friday, and we had a lovely time I can assure you, however tired I've been. However it felt like our relationship had changed somewhat? I didn't realise it had been a YEAR since she came down to Falmouth, and that being when I saw her last. Crazy how fast time moves on.
 |
| Newbury, The Wharf and Kennet & Avon Canal. © Lee Robert Bouzida |
Then Saturday night was the big one. After going for dinner with my Dad (had some beautiful ribs, in Bill's in Newbury, with some damn tasty spicy sauce mmmm) I met up with some old pals in the Market Place to watch a Killers tribute act (The Kopycat Killers; they were pretty good, but their Brandon was less than convincing). We danced, we sang, we laughed at our own antics. It was great.
Then we went back to hang out with lots of other folk in a similar predicament, in the Catherine Wheel. As if we hadn't spent enough time there over the years.
Everyone seemed to pretty much be the same person, I even found myself diving into my old ways. My voice got louder, accent more prominent, and I felt like making jokes about every single person there, however long it had been since I'd seen them. We had the magic guy sat there doing magic, the pessimists moping, the misery being thrown around, the optimists cracking their sharp wits, and the historian historicising.
It's incredible how hard our habits die. We then went on to Walkabout, which appears to be much the same as Diamond Tap used to be. We all did the same things; bought gin and tonics, socialised, mingled with strangers, danced like lunatics, and set off into the groups of people we had spent the rest of sixth form nights out grouping with. It was depressingly like old times.
For the rest of my week, I had tasted good beer, been reading a good book (Espedair Street, by Iain Banks) watching good TV (Lost In Space) and generally enjoying myself hanging out with contemporaries and such. Also, the weather was GORGEOUS.
 |
| Newbury Town Centre © Lee Robert Bouzida |
I've got more reunions this week. I'll try to be more Modern Lee.
Have a great week,
LB x
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