Summer Of Excitement: Irritating Bar Flies - [a case of the summer]

So while Labor Day Weekend is the recognized end of summer, it's not actually the official end of summer.  That isn't until late September.  As a result, I will continue my [a case of the summer] series until the weekend of September 21st.  I'll try to keep things exciting.

This week's Summer of Excitement installment isn't devoted to one particularly thrilling event.  Truth be told, a lot of little things happened that throughout the week -- some professional, some personal.  Professionally, I had to overcome one major obstacle (I hope I did) and I had to undertake some tasks that I had never done before.  It was challenging and took a lot of work and perseverance (and perhaps thick skin) to get through it.  But I did.  And I also began to build some new work relationships, which is exciting as well.  The promotion hasn't been all sunshine and jellybeans, but it's been fulfilling.  And, yes, exciting.

However, if I were to pinpoint anything for this installment, it would be what happened at the bar last night.  I ended up having to work late Friday (see above paragraph) despite the office closing early, so I didn't end up doing anything that night.  On Saturday, I had a delicious home made seafood dinner at a friend's place and then checked out a few bars.  I was supposed to go to the beach on Sunday, but the weather prohibited that.  I ended up watching numerous hours of Arrested Development and Beyond Belief:  Fact or Fiction (day well spent, in my view).  I really wanted to catch the new episode of Breaking Bad, as well.  But once the episode was over, I still wanted to go out, since I didn't have a chance to do anything Friday night.  So a friend and I went to our local pub -- a place where, genuinely, everybody does know our name.

Yet, for some reason, things weren't quite right.  Perhaps it was that it was a Sunday night.  More probable, perhaps it was because it was the "last" night of summer celebration.  But when we walked in, the music (while rather good) was absolutely blasting.  You could barely even converse.  It was far louder than it ever had been in the past.  Second, practically everybody there was obnoxiously drunk.  My friend and I were sitting at a booth, and another group of people were sitting at a tall table in the corner of the bar.  These guys (part of their group) would walk several feet away from their table and would start dancing, somewhat graphically.  That's all fine and good, except for the fact that they were doing it RIGHT IN FRONT OF OUR TABLE.  And then a couple of their friends would join, and all of them would be dancing loudly and annoying practically in our laps.

The annoyingness wasn't limited to that group, either.  I went up to the bar to get a refill, and while waiting for the bartenders' attention some guy started walking by.  I moved over slightly, figuring he was trying to pass through the crowd to get to the nearby bathroom.  Instead, he stands right in front of me so that HE could get a beer.  Despite the fact that I was clearly standing there waiting.

And then worst of all, there was a bar fight.  Actually, more accurately, there were THREE.  The same two guys -- a middle aged man and a somewhat elderly looking guy -- got into an actual, legit bar fight on three separate occasions, within the span of ten minutes.  Like, they had to actually be broken up each time.  Yet, for some reason, they were allowed to come back inside each time.

I went out.  I had a couple of beers.  And it was a fine enough time.  But it wasn't worth being around people that I found obnoxious.  So, yeah, I got home around midnight and just watched some more TV.