After Work Foolery

Last Friday Johan Lantz and Anton invited out for a little "after-work" drinking. "After-work" is a monthly meeting of young telemarketers from my friends' company where they unwind at a bar. I met Johan and Anton at 6pm in Fridhemsplan. I surprised Anton a bit, because while I had my nice jeans on, I was only wearing a beater for a shirt. I'm assuming that reflects his views on American fashion, and not specifically my style. It was just too warm on the subway to wear the long-sleeve pink button-down I had in my left hand. Soon we arrived at the bar, where our group was enjoying themselves at a table outside.

I was extremely excited. There were several attractive girls there, AND it wasn't suspicious if I talked to them. When I approach an attractive girl that I've never met before on the street, or a club, or on the subway, I can tell their defences go up. And why shouldn't they. Attractive women get approached all the time by guys who say really boring things like, "Do you like American music?" or really only want to sleep with them. I have a much easier time conveying my lovable self when I have a substantial reason to speak with the girl, which could be as simple as her bumping into me a saying, "Sorry." I was going to be part of the group for a while, so it was only natural to meet everyone.

I met most of the people in the group, told a couple stories, asked some questions, and was having an excellent time. It also helped that Victor, a guy from the group, kept buying me drinks. Stockholm is expensive, so I readily accepted what was given to me and I thought Victor was a great guy. Towards the end of the "after work" session, I was engaged in conversation with two girls, while another that I thought was really cute was sitting on my lap. Unfortunately, I didn't know Victor always tries to get new people drunk. And he's good at what he does.

I wasn't really paying attention to the last few drinks he bought me. While I was drinking the last one, I found out it was a Long Island Ice Tea. I followed that up with two shots that may have been double shots, and things went way downhill from there. I had a moment of semi-clarity where I realized what I had done, and decided to wander outside. I sat down on the sidewalk outside the bar, and soon Johan, Anton, and Johan Keding decided it was in my best interest to take me home.

Thank God I have good friends. I threw up five times, twice on the Subway, and I progressively became less and less coordinated to where they basically carried me back to Anton's. Johan Lantz even went as far as to remove and soak my befouled shirt and shoes. I owe all of them a bunch. While the evening didn't end ideally, what I remember was a lot of fun and its just nice to know I have people who about me out here. And, if I didn't make too bad of a first impression, I'm excited to hang out with those girls again.