I met up with an old friend of mine at my club this evening, as it's the last day before my club closes for a month for the summer (I guess so all of the staff can have a month off and they can do maintenance and repair work).
One of the things I like about meeting people at my club, is I don't have to worry if anybody is late. Once I got there, I just gave my name at the desk and told them I'd be at the bar when my friend came looking for me. And then I went into the bar, got myself a pint of beer (just £1.73, one more reason I like my club, as I try to forget that it costs £700 a year to be a member in the first place), and sat down to read the day's newspapers while I waited. I'm getting really into sudoku these days, and the ones in the free paper are easy and make me feel smart.
My friend showed up after not too long, and then we took a little tour of the club, while just talking and catching up about our lives. I loved that my friend was just in total awe of the club, continually exclaiming about how much he liked it and how much he wanted to be a member as well. Given how much I enjoy my club, from the chandeliers hanging from the ceilings to the beautiful old libraries, I'm always happy when it turns out that other people like my club as much as I do.
Winding through the many rooms of the club, we eventually ended up in the pool room down in the basement, and just ended up chatting about life, romance, and all of that. This friend is a guy who I've always been excellent friends with, and he's smart, funny, handsome, and all of those other great things, but there was never even a hint of romance between us. I don't think I would have minded if he'd been interested, but for some reason he always just seemed to prefer our banter and battle of wits to any other sort of involvement. And given his unreliability and committment-phobia over the years, I have to say I think I prefer him as a friend rather than a boyfriend as well.
But he does offer interesting insight into the minds of men (particularly the more typical globe-trotting, insanely-intelligent, committment-phobes that I usually meet)and I thought he offered valuable piece of advice when he stated, "The reasons that people get together and the reasons that they stay together are entirely different." I think he's got a point, in that I've got all of the qualities that boys say they are looking for in a girlfriend (sunny disposition, intelligence, sense of humour, quick wit), but those aren't the things that necessarily make people ask for a first date. His theory on that was that it came down to banter and chemistry, and you either hit that one or you didn't, it just was there or it wasn't. Interesting theory.
After my friend left, I walked outside with him, but it was POURING rain, so I thought, "Forget this, I might as well hang out inside until the rain stops!"
So I went back into the library, where I luckily found some books on walking tours in London, so sat down to read, looking for ideas of things to do whilst my parents are visiting. Except the only problem was that I was so hungry I was nearly fainting (it was now about 8 PM, and I'd last eaten at lunchtime). Yet then I spotted a "Tea Menu" sitting there on the table I was reading at, and almost mysteriously as I was reading it, this servant appeared at my side asking, "Would you like anything, miss?" Yikes, visions of Victorian England with servants who were invisible until you needed them!
Okay, so this is cool, but this is the thing I hate about my club: I always feel so awkward when I don't know how things work. I realise this will get better over time, as obviously the first time you stumble through things, and then ever after that you can act like an old pro, completely at ease and knowing what you are doing. Yet as this servant is waiting there, I have no idea what to do.
So I ask her, "Can I have a ham sandwich? And maybe a cup of tea?"
She then dissappears, and I wonder, "Does this just go on my club bill? Do I have to pay her right away? How does this work?"
Eventually she returns, with a giant tray with a teapot, a teacup, spoon and saucer, sugar and milk, and then says, "That will be £4 please" and just stands there, so I finally figure out I'm supposed to pay her right away. Hand her the money, she scurries away and comes back with a ham sandwich (a VERY good one, I might add), and that was that. So I had my tea and sandwiches in the library (with everything on matching club china, of course!)
And then I'm reading these books, and realising it would be REALLY helpful if I could just check them out and have them with me whilst my parents were in town visiting. But how does one check out books? I've never properly read the library guide, and there's nobody in the library to ask. I see little slips of paper to fill out in order to check out books, but I can't figure out how it all works. Where do I leave the slip of paper? How would I notify people once I've returned the book?
Finally, I conclude to myself, "The club is closing for a month tomorrow anyway, nobody can get to the book during that time, and you'll return it as soon as the club opens again anyway." So I just stick the book in my bag and walk out. Against the rules? Perhaps, but I'm still only borrowing it, so that's okay, right?
One day, I'll figure out how my club properly works, but in the meantime, it's still a fun place to be (with some weirdly attentive servants and some great books!)
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