Do you drink? Ever been drunk? Ever been drunk on a Wednesday afternoon and then had to attend a concert by yourself? Yes, to all those questions, on my part. Hello, and welcome to Monday. Let us not moan but reminisce about last week. I hope you enjoy this little story time.

For a bit of privacy, I have changed the names of my friends when talking about them on this blog. None of my friends have nicknames; bar the two I am about to talk about. Their names are Flatz and Curly. I have known them for about ten years, which is absurd to say; or write.

They are both Dubs. I met them at a Spanish language camp in Galway. Let that sink in for a moment. Flatz is a massive Red Hot Chili Peppers fan, as am I. We hit it off instantly. Curly is, by his admission, a chill person. As am I. We hit it off instantly.

We meet up a couple of times a year. Life gets in the way; you know how it is. Curly invited me for drinks last week. It was a coincidence that I was going to Dublin to see The Chats. If you don’t know who they are, imagine the Australian Sex Pistols. That’s how I describe them anyway.

Curly and I meet up around 3 pm. We have some lunch and then head to the pub. The concert isn’t until 7 pm. The Chats aren’t even on until closer to 9 pm. I didn’t know how I felt about rushing off too early. I hadn’t drunk with these two lovely humans together in years. I decided to stay. Going for “drinks with the lads” is something a lot of people do. I don’t do it that often. Kurt and I did it recently. That was a rare opportunity for both of us. There is much catching up to do when you haven’t seen your friends together in a while: life and drink-wise.

I was on the cider. The other two were on the Guinness. I don’t drink Guinness because I am not Irish enough. We all bought ourselves a round and then a round each. That doesn’t amount to much, all things considered. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t take its toll. It kind of reminds me of a Louis CK bit where he tells the story of getting high and then having to get on with his day. I now had to walk across O’Connell Bridge and to The Academy. I made it. I should say that now. However, having had all those pints and an additional one at the gig, I don’t remember enjoying myself. The Chats are great, but I was too busy trying to keep my wits about me when I should have been, you know, enjoying the show.

The show only lasted 50 minutes. That was the quickest concert experience I have ever experienced. That is the story of me being drunk on a Wednesday.

I am chairing my writers’ group tonight. I will endeavour to have something to share on Friday. Keep an eye out for that. Have an amazing week. Thank you for reading, and thank you for your time.