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I mean, this has to be a joke, doesn't it?
I'd been warned.
The Chef's son, a server, perhaps mid 30's, coming in to work, first off telling me he's still drunk, been doing Ketamine, so drunk AND high, and the rest of the night goes as you might expect. He's not concealing it well, garrulous with the tables, forgetting things, he's going on about a little tattoo he got with a couple at the bar, a small one, his dad thinks it makes him look like a prisoner or felon, it's just like a SMALL tattoo, why can't his father approve anything, and now he's going off "IT's NOT LIKE I'M A HOLOCAUST DENIER"...
In his addled state he finds this hilarious, repeats it ad nauseum, the night passes.
Fuck I hate my life at the moment.
There's a book in there some where, "The responsible, articulate and reasoned child of wealth and privilege", fiction, nobody would believe it...
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Since being back at the hostel I've had it pretty sweet. 7 days, my shared dorm room only once shared with a Ukrainian traveler, and he only here from 12:00 Noon until midnight when he left.
So I'm being spoiled.
But the common area's come under siege. An older Mexican man, perhaps 45 (?? I'm no judge of age) has taken to partying there every night. He travels with his Bluetooth speaker around his neck, playing "Vogue" by Madonna and "Like a Virgin", and a ton of other camp favorites from the late 90's and turn of the century. He's drunk on Mojitos and Daiquiris, It's loud and I'm unable to pay attention to anything but this, the worst of all possible 90's club "muzak".
We take turns picking songs, and I pick "Gay Bar" by Electric Six. It's a great song. He listens a moment - then looks at me, his face all lit up: "Are you Gay?"
I nip this in the bud. "NO". It's a hard no, I used to feel that I was offending people by being straight and so I'd be all coy, wishy-washy, but I know better now - fuck that - I'm fine with you being gay - you be fine with me being straight. I'm only gay if it's an older woman asking.
He doesn't like this, finds other company, a poor young Greek man with his girlfriend, and - I have to say - in this shared dorm-style housing - well - things could get awfully uncomfortable. And I'm grateful for the long spell of no shared roomies...
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Curious in real life, and I can't help but think I've seen them before...
- Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igor_and_Grichka_Bogdanoff
- CNN: https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/04/entertainment/igor-bogdanoff-dies-covid-intl-scli/index.html
Oh, now I remember ... the plasticized beauty of the trophy wives of Yaletown...
Note: How do Plastic Surgeons do this to people and not get charged? Are they not bound by the Hippocratic Oath? Shouldn't these people instead be referred to therapists and psychologists, not turned into nightmarish living human caricatures?
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The Persian girl, her boyfriend, a couple of others...
"Long-timers" here, almost as long as I, they've adapted to living in the Hostel by sleeping all day, and spend all night up gaming on their computers. They come into the common area, 9, 10:00 PM, set up their computers, they're there when I finish work, and again when I wake up in the morning, before packing their shit up and going to bed.
They're just here passing time, and I'm wondering - why? I mean - why be here - overpaying for squalid quarters - and not looking for a more permanent or cheaper place to live, find employ - the Persian girl, she has anxiety attacks every other day - and no wonder - but - her lifestyle is largely fueling it.
Curious, this, these travelers, one imagines their reviews of Canada or Vancouver in the next edition of "Lonely Planet" - "Days are grey, nights are dark, WiFi is so-so...".
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And Daniel, at work, older fellow (late forties, perhaps?) - always in a suit - well dressed, overdressed even, had owned a few restaurants, sold them - and now was looking for work as a server - worked a few shifts - maybe 5, 6, took a couple of days off, sick, before coming in and working his last shift, quitting.
The stress, I suspect, he looked pretty harried, the staff here - bitchy, bitter cliques, heard a few scathing remarks about his plate carrying abilities, being an owner doesn't mean you can serve, or carry plates, or...
Anyways, he's off. 1 down. Another new girl trying out, pleasant again - but - saw her Friday night, she wasn't seen again on Saturday, this is a fairly frequent thing for them I suspect...
So - while I'll never hold a candle to the lifers here - and why should I? I got a LottoMax ticket - 65 Million will be mine tomorrow, and then you'd all better watch out...