Thing 53 Dial Another Country For A Chat

The next time I need a pint, and I'm in the Minneapolis, Minnesota area, I'll be popping in to Kip's Authentic Irish Bar.

That's a rather shameless promotion eh? Still, they seemed like thoroughly lovely people. Big shout out to Jessie who was working behind the bar, and Jessie who was celebrating her birthday. I'm not messing with you here, by pure chance the only two people who I got to talk to at Kip's were both named Jessie. And they were both awesome people.

We'd decided early that this was going to be a English speaking country. There's simply no point in me calling China. Shortest, least intelligible conversation ever. So I left it to Pony Boy and Little Flower to pick me some random places to call. I meant that they might look up area codes and city codes and we'll stab in some random numbers. Pony Boy decided to go even more random than that and gave me the number of a taxidermist in Huntsville, Alabama named Bill. Sadly, I think it was Bill's wife that answered, and she was not feeling chatty... She seemed a little put out by the whole thing. I was only calling to say hello... Hard to get a word out of her.

So I tried something else. Analytics told me that a couple of hundred people in Minnesota had been reading the blog... so where better to call, than an Irish Bar... Here's the Link: Kips

Cue Kip's and the very chatty Jessie... (and later the other chatty Jessie).

Kip's sounded like a fun place to be drinking. So Jessie the Bar Lady put me on the Jessie The Birthday Girl who got all twelve of her buddies who were out drinking to shout hello down the phone to me, Pixie Head, Token Northy, Little Flower and Pony Boy. Thousands of miles away a party of drinkers were shouting hello to us from an Irish Bar in Minnesota...

You know, it's a sad old world when you can't really strike up a conversation with someone who you don't know without them thinking you're a weirdo. I'm as guilty as the next person. If you tried striking up a conversation with me, I'd almost certainly punch you in the face... alright, maybe not, but I'd definitely think you're odd. No one talks to people they don't know at a bus stop, and if you try being conversational with the person who serves you at a shop, they'll think you're planning on attacking them. Or hitting on them. Which makes you look like a weirdo, and a pervert.

So it's nice to strike up a chat with someone who you don't know, and have them really seem to enjoy the chat coming back the other way. So here's a nod in the direction of my new favourite bar that I've never been in...

It's a small, small world...

So here's a hello to them! You guys rock!!! I'll put the video up tomorrow. I'm too lazy now.