The debacle that was St. Paddy's Day

Ah, St. Patrick's Day...a time to celebrate Ireland by participating in drunken revelry. I hadn't gone out for ages, what with all the studying and training, so I was really looking forward to having a few beer and some fun. Somehow it turned out a little differently from what I had expected...

Some friends and I arranged to meet at a pub. As I got there earlier, I tried to grab a table. Even at 5pm, the place was packed. A server told me that this table of four older men had already paid and should be leaving soon, so I stood by and read the paper, waiting for them. Well, even though they had paid, they kept ordering more food and drinks and I was standing there for quite a while. After about 30 minutes, they asked me if I was waiting for the table, and invited me to join them for a beer. And hey, who am I to pass up a free beer?

The two retirees were quite nice and had some really interesting stories. One was in the navy and had travelled a lot, and the other lived in Hong Kong for 20 years; I really enjoyed their conversation. However, the younger guy, a politician in his 40's, apparently had this "twitch in his cheek" as he called it, and kept winking at me. Needless to say I felt very, very uncomfortable! With no sign of my friends, I was starting to get worried that this was how I was going to spend St. Patrick's Day...being hit on by a slimy, portly, middle-aged politician in a green suit (kind of like a leprechaun, super-sized).

Thank god I eventually did find them, and then the real drinking began. After a few beers, we decided to cab it downtown, hoping to catch a live Celtic band and jig ourselves silly until the wee hours. Unfortunately, the bar that always has live music on didn't have a band that night, so without the distraction of dancing, there was a lot of drinking. Now, in my defense, I have hardly touched beer since I started training, so my tolerance was quite low. I actually didn't have that many (compared to what I used to drink back in the day), but somehow I ended up on my knees in front of the toilet.

I could hardly walk, so my friends got me a cab and I got sent home. After stumbling back to my house, with a few "accidents" on the way, I got in, and was surprised to see everyone was up. I made a bee-line for my room, as I didn't want anyone to see the state I was in, and then realized it was only 10 pm!! I had a little lie-down, hoping that a little rest would make me up to getting ready for bed...and woke up six hours later at 4am, with all my lights still on! Oops. Needless to say, I'm going to be spending today curled up in the fetal position on the couch in my pajamas, drinking peppermint tea. Thank god St. Patrick's day is but once a year!