TWO FAT FARANGS

It’s only paper

As you may have noticed I’ve been moving the furniture around again. The site was all over the place in IE7 and I just couldn’t find a fix with that theme. It looked fine in Firefox, but it came to our attention by some dinosaur who still uses Internet Explorer that the layout didn’t look right. If you haven’t already, do yourself a favour and download Firefox from the button in the sidebar.

Enough with the shameless advertising, but I thought I’d better post something seeing as Will’s going to be sitting on his arse for three weeks looking at his belly button.

Being back in the bar has been a complete bore. Not too many tourists in, mainly just the regulars who are really starting to annoy the hell out of me. It’s strange how boring folks can become when they’ve been here too long, when they get that I know better than you attitude. Those who speak good Thai tend to be the most mundane characters, the way they jabber on to the girls with that air of superioty over us farangs who are crap with the language. Then they laugh along with the girls when you don’t pronounce something right, then make a point of showing you how you should be saying it. Piss off!

I’m going to see Nam at the weekend. I’ll take the bus up on friday and stay with her till monday. I can hardly wait to see her again. The time we spent together last time I didn’t touch a drop of booze, but being back in the bar I’m on it again every night, staying up late and listening to drunken drivel. A weekend won’t seem long enough, but I’ll make the most of it and then take things from there.

After my last post about Nam I came under fire for my naivity and stupidity in the comments. I then received some words of good luck and best wishes. I appreciated that, and didn’t feel like such a retard after all. There’s nothing stupid about the way I feel, or giving money to Nam. I own a bar and have heard enough bad luck stories to know the pitfalls and the risks. I’m OKish for money - probably got enough set aside to last me till I die - so what have I got to lose spending it on somebody special? Somebody who will remember me as a man who made her feel safe and took a great deal of worry out of her life.

If I hadn’t met Nam and died tomorrow I’d probably only be remembered as old John - good for a late drink.

Maybe this will be my legacy - giving a better life to one of the millions of young Thai girls who deserve it. If she was Western she wouldn’t appreciate it. She would merely expect it. When you’ve got somebody you adore, a lady who laughs at your crap jokes and takes pride in folding up your clothes and doing the little things to make you feel taken care of it’s got to be worth it for what you lose in the pocket.