Novotel Trio
Last night at the bar I met one of the strangest trios I've met in a while.
I had gone down after I got done working, about 10, and Ganette was swamped, plus she told me she had a gift for me, so I was just watching TV. After about 15 minutes one of these guys came over and asked me if I was just really into TV, or if I was from somewhere else and at the hotel. We started talking. He was a nice guy; a high school French teacher who liked talking economics and pop culture. He told me about a book he's written recently with an (admittedly) limited appeal. It's a Canadian French/Canadian English dictionary, but not a tourist book. Rather it's a serious linguistic text, and he isn't sure what to do with it now that he's gotten it ready to publish. We talked about some options and I flacked for Mensa for him, which interested him. So he was a bit quirky, but quite nice and fun. His friends were stranger...
One of them basically sat on the side of the conversation and would occasionally interject a bad pun or a movie reference. He was engaged in what we were doing but didn't seem to have a lot to add. While I wasn't at the table, he was the primary conversation partner for the French teacher, but as soon as there was someone else to carry on the conversation he seemed happy to let them carry on.
The other guy was truly out in outer space. My French teacher buddy described him as a cross between Forrest Gump and Rainman, and that isn't the worst description ever. I'd be talking with the other two guys and he'd interject "So you're from the States, right? Have you ever heard of Johnny Cash? I like his music, but I think he's dead now." Then a few minutes later "You're from the States, right? They used to make Westerns there. Did you ever watch Gunsmoke? How about Bonanza? I liked Bonanza. And Rawhide was good. So was Big Valley. Did you ever watch any westerns?" A few minutes later he asked me about digital versus analog TV signals in the US (which, ok, seems like a real conversation for a change) and then tells me that they just did the switch in Canada. Then he says "Is NBC your national station?" I was confused and his friend reminded me that CBC is a federally funded thing in Canada, and then I told 'Raymond' that we don't have that in the US. So he says "No, isn't it NBC? Or is it ABC. I heard that CBS has the best news. Is CBS the best news?" So I tell him that people would probably disagree over which news source is the best in the US and start talking about CNN and Fox and such, and he asks what Fox stands for then tells me he likes watching NBC in the US because it has Wimbledon and then starts suddenly talking about WWII bombers.
I politely escaped. It was worth the story though... and who knows? I might bump into them again. They apparently are regulars at my hotel's bar. I just haven't seen them before.
I had gone down after I got done working, about 10, and Ganette was swamped, plus she told me she had a gift for me, so I was just watching TV. After about 15 minutes one of these guys came over and asked me if I was just really into TV, or if I was from somewhere else and at the hotel. We started talking. He was a nice guy; a high school French teacher who liked talking economics and pop culture. He told me about a book he's written recently with an (admittedly) limited appeal. It's a Canadian French/Canadian English dictionary, but not a tourist book. Rather it's a serious linguistic text, and he isn't sure what to do with it now that he's gotten it ready to publish. We talked about some options and I flacked for Mensa for him, which interested him. So he was a bit quirky, but quite nice and fun. His friends were stranger...
One of them basically sat on the side of the conversation and would occasionally interject a bad pun or a movie reference. He was engaged in what we were doing but didn't seem to have a lot to add. While I wasn't at the table, he was the primary conversation partner for the French teacher, but as soon as there was someone else to carry on the conversation he seemed happy to let them carry on.
The other guy was truly out in outer space. My French teacher buddy described him as a cross between Forrest Gump and Rainman, and that isn't the worst description ever. I'd be talking with the other two guys and he'd interject "So you're from the States, right? Have you ever heard of Johnny Cash? I like his music, but I think he's dead now." Then a few minutes later "You're from the States, right? They used to make Westerns there. Did you ever watch Gunsmoke? How about Bonanza? I liked Bonanza. And Rawhide was good. So was Big Valley. Did you ever watch any westerns?" A few minutes later he asked me about digital versus analog TV signals in the US (which, ok, seems like a real conversation for a change) and then tells me that they just did the switch in Canada. Then he says "Is NBC your national station?" I was confused and his friend reminded me that CBC is a federally funded thing in Canada, and then I told 'Raymond' that we don't have that in the US. So he says "No, isn't it NBC? Or is it ABC. I heard that CBS has the best news. Is CBS the best news?" So I tell him that people would probably disagree over which news source is the best in the US and start talking about CNN and Fox and such, and he asks what Fox stands for then tells me he likes watching NBC in the US because it has Wimbledon and then starts suddenly talking about WWII bombers.
I politely escaped. It was worth the story though... and who knows? I might bump into them again. They apparently are regulars at my hotel's bar. I just haven't seen them before.