I spent the early evening in the formal surroundings of the Community Council meeting then got picked up by one of the women from work to shoot over to a caravan park social club in St Asaph for a colleague's leaving "do".
I am not a big work's night out person now. When I was a ward manager I went to every occasion...It was expected of me to show my face...but after years "smalltalk" and of invariably getting lumbered with someone you just didn't like (but had to put up with at work), I kind of got out of the habit of socialising when I returned to a junior nurse position.
Last night I was more than happy to go. The guy leaving ITU is a talented, psychologically astute nurse who was leaving the unit after working at the hospital for two decades. He had obtained a position in a prestigious London Hospital and was effectively leaving North Wales for the first time at the age of 47..a big step for anyone to embark on
Although I love living in Wales....leaving when I was 21 was the best thing that ever happened to me. After a three year of training in Chester I moved to York and had my "wild oat" time in the pubs,social clubs and nursing accommodation of the city....then moving on to the "grittier" Sheffield where my horizons were broadened by exposure to cultures and lifestyles a million miles away from those of suburban Prestatyn.
When I returned to North Wales after nearly 20 years in Yorkshire, I was struck by the amount of subtle (and NOT so subtle) racism I observed. This surprised and shocked me as for some strange reason I did not expect small town thinking to still rife in our modern, more cosmopolitan lives...how wrong I was...
Small town thinking .....there is nothing worse.....
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| Rob and his karaoke evening |
Mind you, I DID politely refuse the slightly stereotypical group offer of performing YMCA for the waiting staff, preferring to prop the bar up to chat and gossip.
Slightly squiffy! I got home just after midnight., I must have looked like a right dick as I trundled out of the car with four carrier bags full of party food ( a present for the pigs!) whist singing a selection of "hits from the shows"...
Thank goodness the neighbours are away visiting family.
This morning all is back to normal.......save for for number 12, who I have just spied sucking the centre out of a mushroom vol-au-vont!
I'd have had you pegged as a karaoke diva, John.
ReplyDeletenot quite my cup of tea christopher...
ReplyDeletethough with your baseball hat proclivities I suspect you would love it!!
Just lately I've been horrified by the amount of racism I've encountered(I don't mean personally, of course. I mean the people who assume if I'm white I must agree with their awful opinions!)
ReplyDeleteMaybe it's an economic thing. Everyone's feeling the pinch so we need someone to blame.
Lot's of racism here in Bubbaville, I think there always has been. I don't like it, but I go where he goes so I am stuck in the muck.
ReplyDeleteQuite the party for 12! You are planning to eat him, aren't you? Try not to let him get too fat, unless you are going to make loads of artery hardening pies.
If you had been brave enough to strut your stuff at the karaoke, I think you should have gone for your cousin - David Gray's song "Debauchery". Maybe next time.
ReplyDeleteThese work do's are best left few and far between. Just often enough to not be seen as stand offish. The best part is the left overs.
ReplyDeleteAt last, we have found the one person in the world who likes vol- au- vents. Take a bow number 12!
ReplyDeleteJane x
'hits from the shows' . . .
ReplyDeleteSo what you're saying is they simply asked you to perform karaoke a little too early in the evening with the wrong song selection? I would have looooved to see you in action.
My ex-husband grew up in Yorkshire - an army brat, they lived near Harrogate/ Menwith Field
First cup-cakes made an unwelcome return.... now it's the turn of vol-au-vents.
ReplyDeleteAre we to expect an onslaught of shrimp cocktails any day?
John, one day I would like to get "slighty squiffy" with you. Until then I will console my own pigs about the fact that they WILL NOT be getting any stuffed mushrooms this am as your priveledged herd has been gifted. They read your blog too.
ReplyDeleteHappily, my small town isn't bad..our crazy rednecks are pretty accepting ;)
ReplyDeleteWork related get-togethers are generally hell on earth.
Having worked in the O.R. For 20 + years I know exactly the occasions you are speaking of....pouring your heart out to someone after too many....and thinking the next day....oh...brother... What a brave move...the older I got the harder it was to change hospitals......
ReplyDeleteAnd that 12....... What a lucky fellow......I can just see the purposeful face as he dives in for round two!!
What sophisticated taste number 12 has John. Yes, I do agree about small town thinking - if you live in one there is no way to get away from it, you just have to rise above it (or keep below it).
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in a small town, and yes there were those who were prejudiced. Most of it that i witnessed was about religion, with the attitude being you could always switch to the 'right' one, and did so, if you had any sense.
ReplyDeleteI moved to a larger place at 16 and encountered blatant racism. I was shocked the second day of school when a white girl came up to me and informed me that i shouldn't, 'stand behind the nigger' to get a drink of water from the water fountain.
I was appalled at her derision and saw that there were two water fountains side by side. I hadn't given it much thought and chose the shorter queue, which had the lone black teenager getting a drink. The other had four white people, whom i thought were all friends. Even though at that time, there were no longer 'Whites Only' signs, the custom of one for blacks and one for whites prevailed.
I couldn't move away from that place quickly enough.
megan
I'd like to think that racisn is fading, but people will always find a reason to hate another.
ReplyDeletePutting someone else down is a way of building yourself up. Unfortunately it's more like setting yourself up to be knocked down yourself. For some reason, small town folk are the last to "get it".
ReplyDeleteGood to hear that you had a good time with the work chums. I hope your friend is ready for the big city.
Looks as if a good time was had by all. Didn't anybody go a bundle on the vol-au-vents? No worries - all the more for Number 12
ReplyDeletethank you all for your comments
ReplyDeletethey make interesting reading
x
I love a man who brings home party food for the pigs...
ReplyDelete