My Weather Hell

God, I really, really don't like this weather... stop with the rain, wind, cold thing, please...

I briefly attempted to go for a walk today, only to be defeated by some kind of half assed monsoon. Grr

Anyway, I've been thinking about drinking.

Last night, I was out in town, after a rugby match. My God, there were some incredibly drunken people out.

Now, I freely admit, I drink. Often to excess, but hopefully, not with the results that I saw last night.

A pub, in town. It shall remain nameless. But clearly, a number of eager customers had been busy imbibing throughout the day. Late in the evening, inevitably one had to visit the downstairs toilets. Now, my theory about pub toilets is that generally, pubs with toilets in the basement are not good. I think it may simply be "out of sight, out of mind" for the bar staff...

These toilets were a case in point. Stairs, overly step and narrow. Aroma, not pleasant. Paintwork, grim and ancient. All of which served only as a gentle warning for the state of the toilets...

Not good... Floor, flooded. Toilet paper, soggy mass on the floor. Underwear, lying in the middle of the sodden mass beside the toilet, in the cubicle.

But and somewhat belatedly, I return to my point. There was a person. Standing, swaying, propped against the sink. They may have been there for sometime. They had that slack jawed, vacuous look that speaks of a long day of imbibing. They, I think, were attempting to close their belt.

They were having some trouble.

I entered, avoided, abluted and departed without our friend making any obvious progress towards reassembling their outfit.

The kinder hearted readers are wondering why I didn't ask them if they were ok? Well, my primary concern was to leave before they threw up all over themselves, myself and the already somewhat scruffy facilities... I am not, I'm afraid, a good samaritan.

Seeing this incpacitated, inebriated, incompetent had the effect of opening my eyes to the other drunken denizens of downtown Dublin. I saw a man, with what looked like dried blood on his face, I saw someone else, "resting" by the side of the road", I watched another man, read aloud, very, very slowly from The Sunday World.

We're not pretty when we're drunk. We should really drink less. I should drink less. And yet it remains very difficult for me personally to imagine going out for a night and not drinking anything as a matter of course. Is it our culture? Is it me? Is it healthy?

Clearly not. And yet on Friday night, I drank cheerfully until all hours and had what I would consider a great time. So, if you do meet me in a toilet in a semi belted state, remind me... it's ok not to drink, in fact sometimes it's fun to just go out without getting out of it... Don't be afraid of yourself.