Owl Opinions

Seasonal Musings – Part 1

Food poisoning is a true curse. I have now fallen sick twice this month from eating at 5 star hotels. What a bloody bummer. It makes you feel shit all over and it doesn’t help that the recovery takes time.

This Christmas was going to be a quiet one but for some reason the events piled up. And they’re not bad things – lunches and dinners with family and friends, musical events and meet ups. It’s nice. But I have a boss who wants to prove himself and so wanted to pile in as many things as possible in December. Knowing very well that people like me celebrate it. He celebrates nothing. That’s the problem with people who don’t have much in their lives so want to prove something. Sigh.

Now thanks to a work visit to a so called 5 star hotel, I have food poisoning. And now for the 4th time this year I am Googling what to do. I do not want to keep going to Docs coz it’s not worth it anymore. I have a probiotic, Jeevani, Peditral & the works and I am going to ride this one out. What horrid timing – gonna miss my friend’s yum Friday night spread. But I’m gonna go – and be on a fast. Fucking hell indeed.

Decided to wear the crop top and wraparound skirt I had been planning to wear all along. First time in a crop top and this crowd had the judges and the cheerleaders. It would be a good test of my confidence.

And so I went after eating microwave oats (oh sacrilege) with some sugar. Mundane yet required so that my gastritis doesn’t raise its ugly head in addition to the Pylori in the house. Sigh.

This party was happening after years. What’s great is meeting old friends, new people (if they dare be friendly) and what’s not great is seeing people you have met before who pretend you don’t exist. This particular gathering attracts a few of them. One wonders if they have temporary Amnesia or if they’re just plain snobbish. It’s annoying to say the least coz when you smile you’re greeted with a stare, a suspicious or surreptitious look. My policy now – fuck it. If you can’t “remember” tis your loss, not mine. Like a friend said – why should I be chasing people? Fucking right. Especially a bunch of nobodies trying very hard to be somebodies. Sigh. The disease of our times.

Anyhow I hooked it out of there and went out with my friends. It was nice being out. I had zero food or alcohol and instead took to sipping some juice pretending to be Cranberry. It was actually Sunquik Blackcurrant juice. I know this coz that’s my crème de Cassis substitute. And Sunquik is like a beacon in the night – the minute you taste it, you know it. The waiter of this 5 star establishment had brought it saying it’s Cranberry. Serious wtf moments.

So I was sober but very chilled and Pylori was at bay – for now. What I noticed was the number of young kids at this bar / club. It was a bit disturbing – there was teenage acne, hunched shoulders and baby beards all on display. These were not more than 17 or 18 – legal age for a club is 21. Sure people will say, we all crashed clubs before 21 blah blah. But not to this extent. There was a huge amount of children – I wanted to ask why they weren’t at some house party. The danger? You get used to alcohol, cigarettes, drugs young when you aren’t sure of yourself, you get addicted for life and let’s not go there- no one in SL is talking about how shit addiction is and how there is no bloody rehab or support that is worth a tuppence. Good luck – majority addicts never make it. Those are not stats the Ceylon Tobaccos, DCSLs and Rocklands want to share with you.

Which is why you need to watch it big time but of course, these are accepted addictions. We will curse the kudu karaya down the road and revere the alcoholic rolling home with puke all over or passed out every day / week / month. No one is talking about how it kills you, your family and your sanity.

From this kids’ paradise of joyful sunsets we set off for the chilled atmosphere of another club – and found out it was anything but chilled. The burning Sunset had poured in to be Chilled. We had to wait in line and here was a dude with a lit cigarette waving it in front like some dumb fuck, trying to be cool. He would have burned us and I happily cursed out loud about the dangers of that cigarette and the other women around me agreed.

Anyhoo crept in and made it to the chilled space which was jam packed and leaking people out of the doors. We managed to wedge ourselves in and formed a circle – one guy and about 5 women. Woohoo – poor one man spent his time shielding us from dudes who think we enjoy being stared at, rubbed against and danced against.

The music was good and bad and since yours truly was in a crop top, every touch I could feel – but these were all friends which was fine. Till lo and behold I felt a hand on my bum and thigh which was having a good grope and I grabbed the hand, turned it around and found some fucker looking shocked that I did that. I blasted him in filth and asked what the fuck he though he was doing. I had half a mind to break his fingers or punch him but I just did not have the energy. He was acting all shocked. Bloody arse. I was mad – I though my days of being groped – from childhood, school to youth – were gone. Clearly not. This is why I hate living like this – women are never safe and there is always some fucking loser who will do what he thinks is his bloody right. No man can ever understand this curse till they have walked in our shoes. So till then – please save your sanctimonious advice and correct your own. Coz we need men calling out their own shits without acting like it’s all normal. Growl.

I’m still processing what this shit did. It’s a violation of one’s basic right to be. And this is why women take time to report assault, rape etc. Coz it’s a fucking shock to the system. It’s amazing how many men are so judgmental that women report the crime late. Coz we are in bloody shock you dumb fucks. Can you not process that? It is not normal to be violated but you have made it normal and now you’re surprised when we fight back. And we have to respond the way you do – hammer, beat up and scream and cuss. It’s not always that easy. You freeze and you can’t think. For years we have been told and conditioned not to react. So that too is playing somewhere. FFS be sensitive and educate yourselves. It’s bloody ridiculous that you are this clueless.

To be continued…

Meet Lilanka
“what is meant to be comes about of what one does”.
An eclectic personality with a penchant for creativity, Lilanka is an old soul who loves life, laughter and stepping off the beaten track. She finds joy in nature, travelling and venting her existential frustrations via her writing while calming her body with food and her soul with music. Her motto is – “what is meant to be comes about of what one does”.
A collection of eclectic expressions from life according to Lilanka Botejue. From her creative outbursts and passionate views to her love for nature, food, music and archaeology, Owl Muses is an attempt to capture these moments in time.
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