My first job out of college was working for a paper company, and luckily I've put most of that nightmare behind me, aside from one great thing to come out of it: My friend Sandy. Sandy is this huge, bearded bear of a Scotsman, who saved my sanity every day on the phone from across the ocean, and still remains a good friend to this day.
Sandy is also gay, and has an absolutely lovely partner, James. I met James when I stayed with them in Hong Kong for a week two years ago, and ever since I joined the O&C, I'd been wanting to invite James to dinner there. James is a huge wine person, and the O&C wine list is legendary, so I figured he'd really enjoy the experience.
I arrived at the club at around 6:30, and wasn't waiting long before Sandy joined me. We had some drinks and then cracked open a bottle of champagne (only £15 at the club, how I love my club!), while I caught him up on the news about my recent redundancy. He was shocked and sympathetic, although seemed encouraged at least at how people have been reaching out, asking for my CV, and talking to me about potential roles. Still, I feel somewhat like a contestant on "The Bachelor", for even as I strive to make a good impression, I'm still just desperately hoping they give me a red rose and allow me to progress on to the next round. Job searching is a lot like dating, when you get down to it!
Eventually, James joined us too, and after we finished our champagne, we headed into dinner. James had fun with the wine list, and ordered some 1999 bottle of wine that still had dregs in the bottle (apparently a good thing) after consulting with the sommolier. You could tell that James really knew his wine, for when the sommolier poured some for James to test it, James only sniffed the wine, didn't taste it at all. I'd heard that this is the proper way to test wine, but I'd never actually seen it done!
Dinner was lovely, and Sandy and James really seemed to enjoy the club. Then after dinner, we got ourselves some glasses of port, and then I took them on a tour of the club. The women's reading room is finally open again as well, and once in there I was reminded of how much I need to spend more time there, it's such a lovely room.
Finally in the end, we just ended up back in the member's bar, finishing our port, and talking about gay marriage. Although the two of them are married (the Brits are so much more progressive about these matters), they aren't really huge advocates of gay marriage or anything, they basically are just happy to get on with their lives together in peace. So of course I felt funny talking to two married gay men about the arguments I was having with the Republican the night before, and the two of them just seemed more amused than anything else.
In the end, I am so glad that things turned out the way they did and that I happen to be straight, because I can't imagine dealing with how difficult it is to find love, and then only having 10% of the population open to you! Yet, how funny is it that I'm the one who is single while they two of them are so blissfully in love with each other? (Although you have to keep in mind, both Sandy and James are about as masculine as you can get, no tight pants on either of them. Pass either of them on the street, and you'd NEVER guess that they were gay. So I guess it was a real case of just finding the one person who is just your style.)
Finally, we headed home, but got quite a surprise when we passed the Carlton, the very club I'd been at the night before, and saw tons of firetrucks outside with smoke billowing out of the club. There were people in tailcoats and dresses all standing outside and seeming entirely unconcerned by the whole thing, just laughing and taking pictures. Who knows what on earth was going on there?
All part of the mysteries that make up life in London, I guess!!
No comments:
Post a Comment