Crazy Christmas Drinks

Ugh, never again...

I was pretty stressed about the drinks I was hosting at the club this evening, which was not helped at all by a guy at the last-minute basically inviting himself along. Numbers were already a bit out-of control as it was, the last thing I needed was more people adding themselves to the list. Yet, as I discovered with the Dartmouth Club of London event, trying to politely put off people like that is just about impossible. If someone wants to crash a party, they will do so regardless of whether they are welcome or not. I couldn't believe how this guy kept insisting on coming, it was so weird!

The party went well for all of the guests, although I don't think I'll be doing something like it again anytime soon (like EVER?) because it was all so stressful... At one point the barman got a bit irate about all of the people, and had some harsh words for me about not giving the staff enough advance notice. It's funny how one harsh word can really ruin an evening, and I found myself struggling to focus on the conversations I was having with people, as I kept replaying that rebuke over-and-over in my head. (I've realised I'm remarkably thin-skinned when it comes to criticism. It just upsets me like you wouldn't believe). Between that and the guy who had fished for an invite (yes he showed up, as I figured he would), it just kind of put a damper on the whole thing. Of course I didn't want to make a scene with the gate-crasher in front of everyone, but I was unimpressed, it was such poor form.

When I realised the bar was getting too crowded, I led everyone like the Pied Piper into the Upper Drawing Room, and I had to be a bit pleased to note that although Doro and a few others had been trying to move the crowd without success (much like herding cats), when I decided it was time to move, everyone followed me instantly and without question. It's nice to feel so popular that everyone wants to be where you are, although I was so stressed out about it at that point!

I suppose some of the increased numbers were due to people having missed their flights, as Heathrow had been closed for days due to snow storms. Great they could make the drinks, but bad to have so many people there!

Things weren't helped at all by the presence of the Vice-Chair of the Committee, G. Always a bit of an odd duck at the best of times, I'm not quite sure what was going on with her last night, but Super-Social Scottish Chap ended up absolutely RANTING to me about how she was behaving inappropriately and making him feel uncomfortable. She was being overly flirtatious, sitting in his lap, and just behaving in a way that he said, "is fine at 4 AM when we're all being a bit silly, but not at 9:30 PM in the O&C! There are certain ways in which Club Ladies are supposed to behave!" He was really NOT amused.

The thing is, G was making it even worse by saying Super-Social Scottish Chap "needs to be more comfortable with physical contact" and continuing on even as he was trying desperately to avoid an awkward situation and put her off. I think it got even worse from there, but I'm not sure how much worse...

Then in all of her weird behaviour, she cornered S, hanging on his arm and monopolizing him until I think he'd had enough and went home early just to get away from her. So we didn't talk much, although I have to admit I was thinking, "You're a big boy, why are you letting her push you around like that?" Rather spineless, he should have been able to get out of that one without having to run away. Let's just say it didn't make him look good...

I did have an absolutely fantastic time chatting with Gordon though, as I always do. He has the same problem I do, which is that our heads are full of random interesting facts that we always spew out at inappropriate moments. At least when the two of us get together, we know we've found a like-minded companion and talk with impunity.

Once I got home, I found tons of messages from a girl from the hash who I had invited, who had been a hit with the assembled company but who had lost her purse and her phone. How does anybody do that? But just one more disaster of a night filled with them.

In the end I would guess that there were about 40 people there, just too many, really. I just have to hope that nobody at the club complains, and that I don't get taken to task by anybody about the whole debacle. I'm never inviting more than 5 people to the club in the future...