Last night, Gord and I, and a bunch of our other friends, went out for beer and chicken wings. The whole plan started quietly, with me noting that Gord looked a bit stressed from his search of a new vehicle. I won't get into the details but he's been at the search for more than a month and nothing new is parked in his driveway yet. He's even taking up riding a bike, which, if you knew Gord, is a huge lifestyle change. So a few days before yesterday, I suggested beer and wings. Gord thought about it and sometime Tuesday afternoon he agreed. We picked Tuesday because that's wing night at Brewsters, a small brew pub franchise. Wings are only 35 cents and Raspberry Ale in cheaper than a usual pint. Service is prompt and friendly. No hassles.
Gord suggested we send the word out to other friends while also saying he'd invite his neighbour, Ron. Ron's wife is in Japan so he's all alone. And I put the word out. Actually, I only sent text to two friends who I knew probably could make it on a weekday night. First was Tim, another stay-at-home dad who once used to be an actor. And a successful one at that. You've seen him die in a big Hollywood movie starring Dennis Quaid. And another buddy Roy. Roy has a real job but spends a lot of time with his kids. In fact, he was at his son's Tae Kwon Do class when he got my text. Perfect timing Roy said cause he had a hard day at work and was going to buy some beer on the ride home. This way, he got to hang out with some friends.
And it was a good time. I got there a bit early and the line up was huge. But I'm a patient guy and I knew my turn would come. Roy showed up about 15 minutes after me and within five minutes, we got a booth at the back. I got the Raspberry Ale, which was nice and refreshing. Normally, I'm not a fruity beer drinker but the fruit flavour in this one is subtle. Roy got the Original lager which would have been my choice had not the Ale been on sale. Then Gord and Ron showed up and the same thing happened: Gord got the Raspberry, Ron took the lager. No fruity beer for Ron, not matter how subtle.
Then the wings. 50 of them in total and we must all be tactile defensive because we agreed on no messy wings. Dry salt and pepper, dry cajun. Wings were fast, beers were good and we downed everything pretty quick. Brewsters is good for that kind of thing. We talked about stuff, death, life, kids, Amazing Race, childhood, sports (only for a bit). We make fun of each other but that's what guys do, especially old guys who've known each other for years. Two beers in and all the wings gone, and then Tim shows up. We make fun of him for being late and all. He's younger than most of us but he's got two kids and he knows the drill. He can handle the macho jocularity. So another round for us and more talk of stuff, etc. All in all a good Tuesday night at Brewsters. Good beer, good wings and more guys than normal. Usually its just Gord and me. And sometimes Tim shows up. And sure, Gord's a good guy and I'd have to spend all this time with him if we ever got on Amazing Race Canada, but it's always good to mix things up, add a few other dudes along for the ride. Not sure when the next beer night will be but you can be sure of one thing, there will be another beer and chicken wing night. There always is.