Model Citizenship

Whenever I am in London I always have to step in for live music at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club. This trip was no different, and on Thursday night I found myself with my girl at Ronnie’s listening to the Reggae inspired jazz music of Monty Alexander and the Concrete Jungle.

Now it’s not often that I have an opportunity to kick it at Ronnie’s, so for those rare occasions that I am there, I would like to enjoy the show without unwanted distractions. Thus, my annoyance should be warranted, and even somewhat expected, when a group of loud and inconsiderate patrons sit down at the table in front of me. My agitation was further justified, as the waitress must have noticed their disruptive behavior, and on two separate occasions asked them to please keep it down.

For a brief moment, the squawking subsided, but once again they started back up again. I then proceeded to ask the offending group to please keep it down, and they quickly apologized.

I then recall overhearing some bits of their conversation which started making me feel bad. Apparently, the main offender had just suffered from a brain and kidney tumor, and was celebrating with his friends on his first night back out since surgery. Granted, they could have went somewhere more appropriate, but turns out he loves Ronnie Scott’s as well, and frankly, if I just had a near death experience, I would want to celebrate at my favorite place too!

So during the break between sets, I struck up a conversation with him and his friends and they seemed pretty cool. I asked them what kind of wine they were drinking, and it turns out they had a couple of £300 bottles of Chateau Margaux. They then proceeded to apologize for being loud, and actually GAVE me the remaining half of one of their bottles as a peace offering. What model citizens!!!

So as we are chatting during the break, and enjoying good drink, we see a drunken girl walk down the steps towards the stage. She then proceeds to trip, and fly 5 steps below, landing face down on the velvet carpet floor in a thump. After literally 5 seconds of laying there motionless, she gets up and stumbles embarrassingly towards us, tripping again and landing on my new found friend’s lap. We cheer, and they offer me another drink asking me to never forget that moment.

So what seemingly started out as a “not so model” post, has surprisingly turned into an awesome moment with some model citizens.

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