Sometimes in the middle of the night I wake up and try to remember things. Like what does the word ‘jackeen’ mean ?

And then I remember. ‘A self-assertive, worthless fellow.’

Not me, of course, although others may… It’s a word used quite often in the pubs of Dublin when working class mates get together for a pint and I suppose, honest evaluations of each other. Just before a punch-up ensues. All in good fun, of course.

But I imagine that I’m not the only one who misses the occasional beer in a public house during this pandemic time that seems to be dragging on into eternity. Just missing out on the small gems that are dropped during the course of bar babble. When I mentioned one time to a fellow drinker after hockey that ordering another beer might be frowned upon by more responsible members of society, he took a long sip and then looked me directly in the eyes before uttering, “There are far, far worse things than being an alcoholic.”

Made me feel a lot better. Especially during these times when even before no one had ever heard of Covid-19 all dialogue seemed to have been taken over by the smug, self-righteous, hypocritical and humourless of society which seems to be most of both conventional and social media. Not to mention that there seems to be a lot of anger out there.

As I struggled out of the liquor store at the mall the other day I was nearly run over by a woman gunning her car out of one of the pregnant women parking places. Maybe my very presence as an aging, hobbling white male irritated the hell out of her. I didn’t bang on the rear of her car as is the custom of the day in my neighbourhood, at least when a car driver angers a phone-reading, Starbuck-sipping, ambling pedestrian venturing out against a red light. Or maybe she thought that as a future owner of a ‘Handicapped’ sticker on my windshield I would be a threat to her spot in front of the shopping centre. I remember thinking that it was ironic that my life would be threatened by a pregnant woman as a newspaper article had just appeared citing the fact that the freakin’ pandemic had lessened their already-low numbers even further.

So maybe my liquor store visits will become a thing of the past. To add to my gloomy moroseness the ‘Globe and Mail’ had just published a lengthy first-section article in their Saturday edition with the theme that “no alcohol is the right amount of alcohol.” Written by some ‘expert’, no doubt. I swear that that one of their sub-sections was entitled, “We’re looking at you, David Perras.”

So as my esteemed leader Justin Trudeau declared ten months ago, “Go home and stay home. “Maybe this is his one statement worth listening to. Only place for me, I suppose. Rinks closed, gyms closed and now even liquor stores off limits as well. Ah, good times, good times.

Didn’t Stephen King and Jack Nickleson give us an image of what all this might lead to in a little movie that I saw some time ago ?