Going Out Out

Last night I met up with a mate who I haven’t really seen in many years.

I’d been waiting for the police to get back to me to arrange for me to be escorted back to the house to get some essentials. Id spent most of the afternoon staring at the phone to ring and was and was really stressed by it all.

So when my mate suggested going for a couple in the local pub I was sceptical. I hadnt been out in several years (other than work events) and with the pandemic in full swing and my current living arrangements I wasnt sure I was up to it.

But I needn’t have worried.

We sat in the pub garden, talking crap and taking the mickey and I actually started to relax. I even caught myself laughing. He had a friend with him who was lovely and we all just chilled out. I listed to silly stories, talked about everything from Football (what is a superleague?) and Cooking (Ive never sampled a meatball fritata and apparently I dont know what Im missing) and marvelled at some of the characters that inhabit St James Street.

You see it turns out that my mate had been a bit of a hermit during this latest lockdown and was actually dreading going out. He had called his friend to see if he would come with him – so when he asked me to join them it actually helped us both out.

I had no idea he was stressed by lockdown and isolation. Its important to remember that other people have stuff going on, even when going through our own tragedies. So we talked, and we listened and we supported each other.

I wasnt sure what I had been so worried about. It has been 16 years since I last went out as a single person, Im older than Ive ever been and I was worried that our freindship would appear strained. None of that bothered me- we picked up where we left off.

We ended up drinking till past 11 and both had smiles on our faces on the way home. It was a great night and for both of us meant we had conquered a demon we were worried about.