Bon Courage Part 1

A recap of American Thanksgiving:

One of the Triptych¹ came into town while I was in Montreal. Whenever Deepa and I get together… craziness always ensues. The last time I visited her in New York we almost got into a fist-fight with an Arabian oil heiress; we ate breakfast next to Chelsea Clinton, and sang Karaoke with a group of Drag queens/Transvestites. (Ahhh the memories!)

This weekend was no different… It turned into a reliving of our high school and Cegep² days. We went to an old dive bar that we used to frequent when we were under-age. MacLean’s has been around since I can remember... It's rarely full, so those without ID can drink happily, all because the owners are just happy to have someone with a pulse, purchasing liquor. We entered the bar, and a young man (who had recently come into wealth... courtesy of the poker machines in the corner) informed us that he would be buying our first round (...little did he know that it would be our only round... It was Thursday and I had to get up early in the morning) He and his friends proceeded to lead us in a spirited game of darts... which is loads of fun, but at which I decidedly suck!

When the game was done, we finished our beers and headed home; me, to my hotel, and her, to the south shore. We had some serious plans for the next night.

On Friday we decided to head out to meet some friends at a really cheesy "we're-too-hip-to-wear-any-clothes" bar. We stayed all of 5 minutes (long enough to have a shot of tequila). We decided then, that we were in a "come-as-you-are" mood so we headed to a place called Cheers. Now, Cheers is the kind of place where everyone may know your name... but they're too drunk to remember it... Not too hard to comprehend when you realize that they serve the "high-end" drinks for 4 bucks and shots for 2.50 (depending on the type of liquor). Needless to say the clientele is young... much younger than me. But, since it was to be a re-visiting of our youth... Deepa and I thought that it would be a great idea. Our friend Eric concurred because a few of his roommates were already there. This is how we find ourselves at Cheers... two drinks and a few shots (one of which was on the house) later, Deepa and I are dancing on the risers... Eric sandwiched snuggly between us. We danced until we couldn't dance no more... and then we drank some more.

What is most amusing about Cheers you may ask? You would think that it would be the way they play the cheers theme song at the end of every night, or the way the "you don't have to go home, but you can't stay here" joke seems to never die... but no, you'd be wrong. It is the fact that at the end of the night, the DJ plays slow songs. He plays these songs so that the drunken masses can stumble around in circles, groping each other frantically for some action... any action! In fact, if you haven't found anyone to grope by the end of the night... at Cheers, you need not lose hope. There is always a group still looking for their last chance... looking desperately for that one and only person; that person who is so drunk, they'll probably never notice the hairy mole growing out of your top lip ³. Inevitably these people will find each other... and grope away, until the lights go up, and the curtain rises to their fate: a drunken night they will soon regret...





¹ The Triptych is what I sometimes call my two best friends. I sometimes think we form the three sides of a picture. Nat’s the responsible, settled one, I’m the crazy, artistic one, and Deepa’s the Brilliant wild one.

² Cegep is a completely asinine concept in which we Quebecers leave High school to go to another school where we will be "prepped" and molded into University students… The rest of the continent calls it grade 12 and sometimes 13.

³ and no, I do not know any of this from experience... only by observation...