Monday 16th February 2009, 18:17
Table for one, near a plug socket if you've got one...
During a weekend of gigs in Liverpool (lovely, thanks), it happed to be Valentine's Day, or more importantly, Valentine's Night, around dinnertime. I'm on a no-takeaway rule till after I'm married, so I had to force myself to sit down and have a proper meal somewhere. No mean feat on Valentine's night, with most places having special menus promising a three-course dinner for £40. So I drove to find a chain - Harvester, Beefeater, Berni Inn (do they exist any more?). Cheap, cheerful, and not too Valentinian.
Toby Carvery was what I settled on, out towards Knotty Ash in the 'burbs of the 'pool. Nice place, £7 for a roast (£5 if I'd got there ten minutes earlier - pah), lovely heaped plateful (which probably makes a mockery of my no-takeaway rule). Only yes, it was still chockful of Valentining couples. Just cheaper ones than you'd find in the city centre.
I feared not though. I was up on business and had to eat somewhere, so I sat there, took out my laptop, and thought I'd get some work done. Then I thought again and decided to put a film on to keep me amused during my dinner. Bought that day from ever-emptying store Zavvi were Short Cuts (a fine film I've seen before and loved) and From Here To Eternity (never seen it, always wanted to, and it's set against Pearl Harbor, so I was interested to see it to bung it on my Movie Timeline website). So I chose the latter, and tucked into a good meal and a good movie.
Bless 'em though, the waiters and waitresses flocked around me throwing puppy-dog looks my way (more correctly, puppy-dog-owners' looks), all feeling very sorry for this poor guy who's decided to come out on Valentine's night, surround himself with couples, and instead of a partner, set up one of the classic romantic movies (From Here To Eternity is the one with the couple embracing on a beach while waves splash against them...).
They didn't know I was up doing a gig for the weekend, and I reckon genuinely thought I do this every Valentine's Day, probably in tribute to a lost love who used to love the film, or something equally slushy and tragic. Bless their Scouse sentimentality. It was like being surrounded by ten Jean Bohts from Bread (except the nice version of her when she's hugging her kids, not yelling at Lilo-Lil).