It's a Jungle Out There!

I had a very interesting evening a few Fridays ago. At 8 pm, I was at Market Mall with my kids and by 9 pm I was at the 'Met' in downtown Calgary, giving moral support to my girlfriend 'J', who had just had the dating experience from hell.
She had been set up on a blind date through a dating service that charges an arm and a leg for people to meet. Her dating 'coach' (now everyone seems to be a coach,life coach, sports coach,intimacy coach now dating coach...but I digress) told her that the 'prospect' was a successful person in his field and apparently a 'hottie'.
So imagining that she was going to meet the local George Clooney, she called me for fashion advice and got her hair and makeup done in anticipation for her date. Needless to say, the guy was a total waste of makeup (yes, that great stuff by Bobbie Brown at Sephora ain't cheap) BALD and FAT..Not even attractive..I know, but I will explain why I know this later on in this post.
We were sitting at the bar with two other girlfriends having a few drinks and looking around at the scenery. It was quite fun to look at people and see how they interact with each other. There was the cliched 'cougar' on the prowl and the never ending parade of the 'bump', that horrific Amy Winehouse inspired mass of hair on the crown of your head. In the corner, at the end of the bar was the typical group of guys with no woman around, making crude comments as each woman passed them by (and they wonder why they aren't 'gettin' any). As I passed by to go to the washroom, I had to endure a crude and inappropriate comment by one of them. I glared at him and told him to go 'fly a kite' in Portuguese.
Where do guys get off speaking to women in such a way? Did I miss something? Have chivalry and basic respect gone the way of the dodo bird? I have two boys and they would get one big asswhooping from me if I ever got wind that they spoke to a girl that way. And they can be 30 years old and I would still do it.
After a while we decided to change venues and went to Vintage. Definitely an older crowd and a live jazz band was playing. The Met had just gotten too, how can I say this....gangster. We didn't stay long and as we were leaving, the un George Clooney walked up to 'J' and said " How are the kids?" Unfortunately she had used the " I have to get home to the kids" excuse to get out of her date and she was subsequently busted by Un George himself. Put a bummer on her already bummer evening. We couldnt get out of there fast enough. Was he stalking her? Who knows, but he was SOOOO not hot.
We ended up having a late dinner at Joe's on 17th and I went home at 2 am.
The next day I watched the show on Slice called 'Millionaire Matchmaker'. I couldn't believe what I saw. There was a guy who was an agist. He was 39, never married and refused to date girls over the age of 25. The matchmaker tried to set him up with a beautiful young hearted 35 year old that fit into his profile, but after one date, they never saw each other again.
As a pre-cougar,single in Calgary, the possibilities in this town are limited. I have high standards and it is hard to compete against the 'bump' crowd of 25 year olds ready to 'give it up' at a drop of a hat. That's not me.
One thing for sure, its a jungle out there.

Another Quote

People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did. but people will never for get how you made them feel

Random Quotes

Be polite to all, but intimate with few. -Thomas Jefferson

Brazil Update

I have been very behind on my blog updates over the past few weeks as I was in Brazil itself and needed material to blog about...
Since my last visit, there have been many chnages in Brazil. Here is a small list of what is happening:

1. Justice has been served. David Goldman has finally taken his son home where he belongs. Exciting as it is, the Brazilian family is planning on appealing the court decision. What could have been a peaceful 'handover' of Sean to his father David at the American embassy on December 24th, it became a media circus as the Brazilian family refused to heed to the Embassy's offer of allowing Sean to arrive through the garage, and chose to parade him down the street in front of the melee of journalists and onlookers. Really a caring attitude to protect the young boy.....NOT!

2.The prices of restaurants! I was in shock to see how much a 'queijo quente'(grilled cheese sandwich) has gone up. It used to cost around $4,50, and I have seen 'lanchonetes' serving them for $9!!! What happenend? If anything, the prices should go down. the dollar is down against the real, so blaming the dollar doesnt gel anymore. $10-$15 reais for a caipirinha!!! $4,50 for draft beer!!!

3. Obesity. Go to the local food court and it makes you want to cry. So much wonderful fruit at the market and I see people wolfing down fast food like there is no tomorrow. I just came back form Rio, ate fruit and fresh food until I was blue in the face and I LOST 4kg!!! This has been a trend worldwide and has hit the shores of Brazil since some time, but this last trip I noticed that it has gotten worse..

4. Obeying rules. I went to McD to get a 'cafe americano'(basically black watered down coffee) and I asked the girl for some milk. Nope. Couldn't do it. If I wanted milk I had to order a cafe com leite(coffee with milk). Asked why, her answer was because she was being filmed and couldn't give me any milk. So much for 'jeitinho'. More like '1984' by George Orwell.

5.Traffic. The traffic before Christmas was INSANE. Hours to get around. Reason? It is easier now more than ever to get car financing, so every Tom Dick and Harry( or rather Joao, Marcello e Carlos) is buying one. Result? Traffic jams that were never there before.

Brazil's economy has been stable for awhile now and the recession that hit everywhere else barely touched Brazil. For now...