Mahjong in Amarillo, and other things

I have a bad memory for faces, which is unfortunate. Today in Stockmann's grocery department I ran into a man who has earned a punch in the nose from me, but I wasn't sure whether it was him or just somebody who looked like him. He was looking at me like somebody who knows that a punch in the nose is coming or at least well-deserved, but that might be because I gave him an evil glare. I wish I knew. Of course I wouldn't have really punched him in the nose, as am a Civilized Western Woman now and therefore don't punch people in noses in Stockmann's grocery department.

Except, maybe, when they have Hullujen Päivät and several crazy grandmothers try to ram their carts through me at the same time.

A friend has invited me to play mahjong tonight, and it was fun. One of those little pleasures in life that you never know about until you run across them. I mean, I'd heard about mahjong and I'd seen old guys playing it in cafes in Boston's Chinatown, but I'd never known how to play it or how much fun it is. Want more mahjong.

We played in Amarillo, and it was a perfectly good place till about 9pm, after which it became crowded, smelly and the music was turned up so loud that we could hardly hear each other. I suppose it is no surprise to people who tend to visit such establishments on a regular basis, but it's been at least a year since I'd been in a place like that. When I go out to bars I tend to favor non-smokingness, good selection of booze, and a reasonably quiet environment where you can talk to people. Amarillo is definitely not it.

What do people usually do in places like that? (I mean the people who actually like such places and not the people who stay there by accident when their mahjong game stretches until too late in the evening.) You can't really hang out with your friends there because you can't talk, and you can't pick up guys either, at least not the ones who you want to talk to before inviting them home. I could understand it if this were a place where everybody was dancing, but it wasn't.