Wedding thoughts

Of course, not mine before you choke at the title.

Come on now.

For a start I have no long-term (or short term for that matter) partner to speak of, and besides, can you think of anyone clinically stable and patient enough to be able to form any kind of long term bond with this quiet little freak?

See, I didn’t think so either.

No, one of my long-term friends, Rebecca, is getting married this weekend to her partner David. As some of you well know, when a good friend gets married the feeling of attending their wedding is a lot different to any others you may have been to. It’s not just simply a happy day to experience but a uniquely poignant one at that. You see someone particularly close to you about to embark on another of life’s great journeys and you tend to stop and consider your own standing in life; where you’ve come from, where you’re going and in what direction.

Having attended the weddings of friends & family in the last few years I’ve noticed how the wedding reception conversation has begun to shift in my favour since I chose to peruse a different career. Generally, the dinner conversation used to go thus:

“Oh, so what do you work in?”

“Well I’m currently a Bookseller…”

“That must be so wonderful, all those books.”

I’m thinking; bollocks, it’s stressful, spectacularly underpaid and monotonous work dealing with the daily galactic stupidity, laziness and ignorance of the great unwashed.

Instead, lying through gritted teeth and sparkling crocodile smile:

“Yeah, you could say so...”

I then suffocate the line of questioning with a deeply pregnant pause, and with great relief herd the conversation off in a different direction.

The last few wedding receptions have shown an intriguing change, as regardless of age and gender, as soon as I impart that I’m about to commence training as a Police Officer everyone is immediately fascinated. I get hit with a gentle barrage of questions about what’s and why’s of my prospective career.

Which is no bad thing. It’s nice to command the attention for a change. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm not a natural in the limelight. I shine brightest when no-one's looking.

Although it’s going to be nice to be among friends on such a happy day, not having any significant other of my own will remind me that behind the calm, cheerful exterior I present lies a very hollow and lonesome soul.