Drinks at the Caledonian

At the Valentine's Dinner at the Farmer's Club a few weeks ago, I met a young man who turned out to be the only man I gave my information to that evening. Not because he was that attractive (although despite his height, I think he has a certain charm), but because he instantly struck me as one of those people who is the social glue for many others, one of the people that you should ALWAYS make an effort to get to know.

Hence, when I received an invitation from this young man to drinks at the Caledonian Club this evening, I delighted to accept. It was basically an event for all of the regulars who normally go to these Inter-Club events, and when I arrived I saw many familiar faces from previous events. The host for the evening was absolutely brilliant, as from the moment he saw me, he greeted me, introduced me to everyone, and even got me a drink. Throughout the evening he was constantly circulating, but I think that was what made him such an outstanding host, that he never let his guests stand idle, always making sure they had someone to talk to.

I was surprised to see Carolyn and The Old Boyfriend (who she'd broken up with in January) arrive at about the same time, and at first when they were at opposite sides of the room, I wondered if this was to be the first awkward event where they both turned up. Yet imagine my surprise and relief when they both started chatting to one another, and it became quickly apparent that they were on good terms again. When The Old Boyfriend turned away at one point, I asked Carolyn what the story was, and she just smiled and said she'd walked out on the relationship in January, but then recently had decided to walk back in again. Given that they are both lovely people (and I think everyone was kind of awkward dealing with them separately), it was just a huge relief for all parties involved to have them back together!

I found myself chatting with quite a few men throughout the evening, nice enough chaps but no real interest anywhere, aside from the fact that I was fascinated by how many were wearing Freemason's ties. Aren't the Masons supposed to be a "secret" society? But I guess it shows what kind of strange crowds I run in, that I seem to know so many Masons...

I also ran into the Obnoxious American who I (sorta) hooked up with last October, and was pleasantly surprised when he greeted me instead of avoiding me the way he usually does at these events. Perhaps we're proceeding back towards normalcy...and I've definitely learned my lesson about not going for any casual hook-ups with this crowd, where you constantly run into the same people again and again!

Eventually, I became enthralled in conversation with a Scotsman who had studied at Emory University in Atlanta, and started talking to me about how the Scots felt a real kinship with people in the Southern US. When I asked why, he told me, "Think of the Confederate Battle Flag. What does it look like?" So I described the Southern Battle Flag (which he corrected my original statement that it was the Confederate Flag, informing me that the "Stars and Bars" was the actual flag of the Confederate States, that what we think of as being the Confederate Flag is just the battle flag), which is the blue "X" with stars on a red background.

With a sly look around the room, he asked me, "Does it remind you of anything you see here?" When he gave a subtle glance towards the Scottish flag hanging on the wall, it suddenly dawned on me: "It's the St. Andrew's Cross!" That white X on the blue background was clearly the Confederate Battle Flag with different colours. And he then proceeded to give me a short lesson on how the Scots had influenced Southern history, and how Lincoln had cleverly played the English with the Emancipation Proclamation to keep them from getting involved in the war. He apologised for "boring" me, but in truth it was one of the most fascinating discussions I'd had in a long time. How funny then, the next morning when I looked him up on Facebook to add him as a friend, I was surprised to find a friend-request already waiting. He'd apparently wanted to continue being my friend just as much as I did his!

Finally, despite that I was having a wonderful time, I noticed that it was 11:45 PM, and the smarter people were heading for the exits to grab the last Tube home. So with a sigh, I acknowledged that I should do the same, and headed home. But what a wonderful evening!