Led from my seat by a scantily clad woman, I stared back at my friends to see them grinning manically at my unease and wishing me well in the usual style of boisterous banter. I was rather more drunk than I would usually allow myself to be on a night out - after all, this was my stag do. Guided to a small room, still in view of the rest of the bar, I was directed to sit down on the bench and she pulled a curtain across. To one side of me a table, a mirrored wall and my bottle that I had ended up still holding onto as I was kidnapped. I wasn't expecting to be given a 'private dance'... though that wasn't where the day had begun or ended...
A little rough already from the night before, I woke up with a big day lined up. It was Halloween and together with a few friends and family, we were heading to the footy and then out on the town in the evening for a traditional lads night out, something I hadn't really had since my student days.
It was a slightly unplanned day in regards to anything other than the basic destinations. The bar in the Revie stand was where it did begin, a little beverage to help the nerves before watching our side battle it out for another 3 points in the quest for promotion. We were all Leeds fans except for one... a Man United supporter but we weren't to hold that against him and we did all make it out in one piece!
The opponents were Yeovil Town. We took to our cramped seats, as is always the case at Elland Road if you've long legs. It wasn't so bad when we used to have season tickets, we were smaller then and you could sit without your knees being bitten into by the seat in front. As it is, this is now a pain that has to be endured at pretty much most large stadia. It wasn't exactly a good first half either. The crowd were quite quiet compared to previous games that I'd made it over to see in the past couple of seasons, but that was more a reflection of the action on the pitch. Somehow, with hardly much in the way of excitement from either side, Leeds went in at half time 1-0 to the good with a rather fortunate goal. At half time we tried to make it back to the bar but with a crowd 3 or 4 deep and not much movement we gave up on that idea.
The 2nd half was soon kicking off and a different side seemed to have materialised from the dressing room. The crowd raised the volume and it was the introduction of the then on loan Max Gradel that pushed the game beyond Yeovil. He came on and the creative spark soon paid dividends with a great cut inside and finish into the bottom corner of the goal. 2-0 and we were looking good for the win and so it proved to be. Another good finish this time from Beckford and a header late on from Kandol put the game to bed. 4-0 it finished. We headed back for some food and to get dressed up for the night content with the fact we were 7 points clear at the top of the league.
After leaving a lit pumpkin outside and finally all dressed up in some cheerful Halloween garb, we got the taxi into Leeds city centre. We were dropped off outside one of the pubs we had called in for a drink at the night before. A likely looking bunch in our costumes we were being given some funny looks out of the window from those inside the traditional pub, Halloween had obviously fallen off the calendar in this part of Leeds. We decided to give the place a miss and plodded on towards a more accommodating part of town.
Walking in a line were an undead convict, one of the Blues Brothers, a pirate, the Joker, a vampire and Frankenstein's monster, we certainly had a look of the comical sinister about us. Well, all except our Frankenstein's monster. He was the friendliest, cutest monster in the world... the bolts didn't quite go far enough down the side of his head and with glasses on and no face make up, my uncle had the look of a cute Shrek impersonator.
We walked to Briggate only to find most of the pubs and bars down the side streets closed. We ended up heading towards the student side of Leeds but it was a sports bar and in Wetherspoons where we spent most of the night, getting a few games of pool in, but mainly just chatting about life in general as well as the wedding to come.
It was closing time as we left Wetherspoons and we parted company with the older generation and my t-total best man who were heading back to do the sensible thing in going to bed. It had been a good night but nothing too out of the ordinary... that was to be changed by weight of numbers. We staggered, still in costume and also adorning a light up lightsaber, into a strip bar. More drinks and the highlights from the days football on the big screen TV, it was an odd atmosphere. It was almost like you could ignore the predominantly older and slightly desperate looking men who were sparsely scattered between women looking to provide a strip tease. As we were still in fancy dress for Halloween, still partaking in the spirit of things, what a bizarre sight we must have made for the people who work there, everyone else was smart casual except for the women wearing more revealing items.
As mentioned at the beginning, I was whisked away to one of several small rooms slightly raised up a step from the main bar area, it seemed words were exchanged whilst I was getting in a drink from the bar. To take up from where we left off.. she whipped off her slightly pointless garments. About a meter away from me, she started to dance and twirl in a manner that what was undoubtedly a skilful art, however to me it was also slightly bizarre, I really do appreciate the female form but I felt more than a little out of place, it just seemed silly. You see, I'm maybe not as red blooded as most over dosed testosterone male types and to be honest I wasn't sure where to look. I wouldn't say I was prudish but there was just something about the scenario. A scenario of someone paying for someone else to take their clothes off and dancing for tips. For me it wasn't the thrill that other people would have you envisage it would be. Maybe that's just me though, maybe you disagree?
The more conservative of you might judge me just for just being there, I too was making a judgement call, the passage of time that fits into a song went by and apart from the questionable décor I was still wondering if it seemed disrespectful to the dancer to not look at her dancing as much as she was probably expecting of me. I'm sure they've seen all sorts though and didn't mind since the money had undoubtedly been paid up front, more than likely she was just not pleased about the lack of a tip. It was an experience, but rather than making me question whether I should be getting married, it re-enforced to me that I really did want to be married to the woman I love. If a professional temptress can't 'get a rise' out of you but your fiancée can without a moments thought, then matrimony is all but a mental health check away.
We left after the football and our drinks were finished. We drunkenly headed to try and find food. This was a great experience, not so much the drunk part mind you, the food part, in Leeds these days some of the more popular food outlets are open into the early hours. So after a drink its not a questionable kebab, burger or chips. You can get a Cornish pasty, a sandwich, a desert, whatever you like really. I opted for a Cornish Pasty and an Iced Finger from Greggs and we ate our spoils on the way back through town to the taxi ranks down at Leeds train station. Halloween night in Leeds in the early hours of the morning was quite a sight. All night in the livelier end of town there were masses of people in brilliant costume and on the streets it was a mass of people, mostly happy, but some having a bad night too. My favourite was a fully head to toe Sponge Bob Square Pants who was staggering down the street like he had just got off the rotating spinner in that Total Wipeout game - Dizzy Dummies. From the whole set of teenage mutant ninja turtles to angles and devils, from Superheros and Villans to people wearing less than they probably came out with, it was a fun sight to see and people were just approaching others and having their photos taken with each other like it was some sort of sci-fi convention. Not everyone had abused alcohol as much as Sponge Bob and like many others, we were starting to sober up a bit ourselves, especially with the wait in the cold in the queue for the taxi. It was straight to bed for a much needed rest.
The next day was the hangover before I was flying back over to Belfast. In that time I did meet up with a friend I hadn't seen in years. Overall it was good to catch up with friends and live a little, that really summed up what the whole stag do had been. It wasn't so much to get drunk and go crazy, it was to see friends and share a good time with them. If only I had managed to write my speech like I had hoped to... oops.
Read the complete post at http://life-in-ni.blogspot.com/2010/02/wedding-stag-do-part-2.html
Posted
8 Feb 2010 1:01 AM
by
A Lifeform in Northern Ireland