Public holiday BBQ
On Saturday I woke up, then slept again, and woke up in the afternoon and went to work. I finished off my Indian restaurant minute and got started on my comm report.
On Sunday I went into work in the morning to work on my comm report and then left at 1pm. At home I was planning to watch the NRL Finals but got the time wrong and fell asleep. When I woke up it was pretty much over. I watched Taken, and boy, did it make me think about the whole punting scene. I mean, am I gonna go out with a girl who has been trafficked? How much do I really know about what goes on in her world? I feel that even though my line of work is involved, I don't even know half of her story.
Today I was getting ready for the bbq I organised at Centennial Park at 10:30am. I had everything ready in the trunk, but at 10am I decided to go down to check if I had enough chips, since I took a pack for Taken last night. While checking, I had an impulsive desire to go for a drive - and so I did. I drove to the seaside listening to my Sleeping Dogs CD, which was awesome. I loved it. Doing it on a whim made things even better.
I went home to pick up my things and then drove to the bbq. Despite being nearly half an hour late, I was still the first one there. I waited and watched the Korean church group singing in a circle. I wondered if Erica was religious. It's not uncommon for working girls to be religious. I guess they don't face the oxymoron.
I didn't have to wait for long before I spotted Michael L and Eva walking towards me. I talked to them for a bit while waiting for the others, and then Shuing and G showed up. The Korean group then came to us and said they had booked the area. Shuing did an admirable thing - asking them for proof. He got it as they showed us their booking form. So off we went to look for a new spot while Michael L and Eva waited for the others.
We weren't too sure where we were headed, but we eventually found a place. During our walk, we had surprisingly good laughs, and it felt like we were back in high school, just walking without a purpose.
I left them there while I headed back to find the others. I started jogging because I didn't want them to wait too long and start thinking about what a shit job I had done organising it (really, how was I supposed to know a group of Roman-Catholics booked a fucking public bbq area??). I noticed how I was able to jog, albeit slowly, which was a good sign. The other thing I thought about was how I had done this jog many many times before (in the other direction though), and yet walking it seemed so far away, but jogging made me remember how it was such a short distance.
I found them and ended up driving some of them to the new area with everything in my trunk. So we set up and ended up having an awesome time. I mainly stayed with Shuing, G and Daniel at the bbq cooking. Michael L, Colin, Sterling and Vivian went back and forth. Yang was cooking on his own bbq. The rest of the girls just stayed as a group together.
After eating, the guys had a soccer game. I wasn't going to play at first due to my knee, but Shuing egged me on, and so I just walked around at first, but (as expected) as the game went on, I got more and more active, until I eventually pushed myself till I scored a goal (or goals).
As I played, I thought about what a contrast this was to my gambling days. This seemed so...pure. It was good, cheap, innocent fun. With friends. Somehow, sitting at a roulette table seemed so much dirtier compared to this. Why is that? I guess losing money, which is your livelihood, just gives you that sick feeling in your stomach. I was glad I was here.
When we packed up the bbq, I drove G and Shuing to G's car, and gave Colin a lift to the station.
I was glad the day went well, better than expected. I had fears it would rain, but there wasn't a cloud in the sky (as G put it).
On Sunday I went into work in the morning to work on my comm report and then left at 1pm. At home I was planning to watch the NRL Finals but got the time wrong and fell asleep. When I woke up it was pretty much over. I watched Taken, and boy, did it make me think about the whole punting scene. I mean, am I gonna go out with a girl who has been trafficked? How much do I really know about what goes on in her world? I feel that even though my line of work is involved, I don't even know half of her story.
Today I was getting ready for the bbq I organised at Centennial Park at 10:30am. I had everything ready in the trunk, but at 10am I decided to go down to check if I had enough chips, since I took a pack for Taken last night. While checking, I had an impulsive desire to go for a drive - and so I did. I drove to the seaside listening to my Sleeping Dogs CD, which was awesome. I loved it. Doing it on a whim made things even better.
I went home to pick up my things and then drove to the bbq. Despite being nearly half an hour late, I was still the first one there. I waited and watched the Korean church group singing in a circle. I wondered if Erica was religious. It's not uncommon for working girls to be religious. I guess they don't face the oxymoron.
I didn't have to wait for long before I spotted Michael L and Eva walking towards me. I talked to them for a bit while waiting for the others, and then Shuing and G showed up. The Korean group then came to us and said they had booked the area. Shuing did an admirable thing - asking them for proof. He got it as they showed us their booking form. So off we went to look for a new spot while Michael L and Eva waited for the others.
We weren't too sure where we were headed, but we eventually found a place. During our walk, we had surprisingly good laughs, and it felt like we were back in high school, just walking without a purpose.
I left them there while I headed back to find the others. I started jogging because I didn't want them to wait too long and start thinking about what a shit job I had done organising it (really, how was I supposed to know a group of Roman-Catholics booked a fucking public bbq area??). I noticed how I was able to jog, albeit slowly, which was a good sign. The other thing I thought about was how I had done this jog many many times before (in the other direction though), and yet walking it seemed so far away, but jogging made me remember how it was such a short distance.
I found them and ended up driving some of them to the new area with everything in my trunk. So we set up and ended up having an awesome time. I mainly stayed with Shuing, G and Daniel at the bbq cooking. Michael L, Colin, Sterling and Vivian went back and forth. Yang was cooking on his own bbq. The rest of the girls just stayed as a group together.
After eating, the guys had a soccer game. I wasn't going to play at first due to my knee, but Shuing egged me on, and so I just walked around at first, but (as expected) as the game went on, I got more and more active, until I eventually pushed myself till I scored a goal (or goals).
As I played, I thought about what a contrast this was to my gambling days. This seemed so...pure. It was good, cheap, innocent fun. With friends. Somehow, sitting at a roulette table seemed so much dirtier compared to this. Why is that? I guess losing money, which is your livelihood, just gives you that sick feeling in your stomach. I was glad I was here.
When we packed up the bbq, I drove G and Shuing to G's car, and gave Colin a lift to the station.
I was glad the day went well, better than expected. I had fears it would rain, but there wasn't a cloud in the sky (as G put it).
posted by toey | 21:15
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