lifelong partners

[MANTIS01]

That is the end of the story about how I met my girlfriend.

However, we stayed in Costa Brava for another 4 weeks or so and by then we were pretty much busto having maybe £100 left for the 10 of us and no way of getting home. One of the tossas called Rich wanted to go to the supermarket to get us all a pasta dinner but we told him we only had enough money left for cigarettes and beer and couldn’t afford food anymore. He looked really forlorn about that and then just disappeared for 2 days after complaining he was starving. We were really worried.

On one of our final days we went to a local Tapas restaurant for a kind of last supper. They had this all you could eat buffet special and we stayed in there for most of the day just eating and eating. As we emerged into the evening sunlight everybody felt really bloated and satisfied.

All of a sudden we heard cries of STOP! THIEF! and everyone whirled around to see a young desperate man with wild eyes sprinting at full pelt carrying a bag of apples. He was being chased by two enraged locals from the fruit shop. That desperate young man who sprinted past us and down the promenade was our missing friend tossa Rich. Such a weird and hilarious sight to witness the Head Boy of a prestigious grammar school resorting to desperately stealing apples from a fruit stand. However Rich was also a cross country champion so he left the locals for dust much to our delight. It did sober us up to the reality things were getting kinda desperate though.

So next day with petty thief Rich back in the fold we hatched a plan to split into 5 teams of 2 and try to make it back to England by hitchhiking. We decided to all meet up at this camp site in Perpignan, South of France as our first check point and then push on to England from there.

I was teamed with Frazer and we absolutely crushed the challenge. We walked about 2km to the start of the motorway where we found this little roadside café. We asked loads of people for a lift north but everyone declined, even these two English lads said no which was disappointing. However, I noticed one of them was wearing a pair of Leicester City shorts and so started chanting “There’s only one Rooster Russell” in homage to Leicester player Kevin Russell nicknamed Rooster. Turned out this guy was Rooster’s number one fan and he started clapping and joining in. Five minutes later we were sat in the back of their Golf GTI motoring north.

These guys were legends and gave us food, drinks, benson & hedges, and some spending money. They kept apologising for saying no when we asked for a lift but said they were wary about being conned or robbed. We talked football all the way and they actually dropped us off in Perpignan right outside the camp site.

Over the next few weeks the other teams started dribbling into Perpignan with various harrowing tales of their adventures. As we cruised along in the GTI with air-con and all our needs taken care of the rest of the lads hadn’t been so fortunate. Sleeping by the roadside, scavenging food, being attacked was all pretty standard. About 3 weeks later a bedraggled Bonny and Matt finally turned up with the most bizarre story. They had been forced to join a travelling bull circus (don’t know wtf one of those are) as performers on account of the fact the convoy was moving North. Apparently the owner was a real cruel bastard who treated the bulls and staff with a sadistic cruelty. When the bull circus got near the border with France our heroes made a break for it in the middle of the night and hitched a lift to Perpignan. Oh and they brought a dog with them.

All together again we started thinking about phase 2 of the plan. Up to this point we were surviving on food dished out by fellow campers so the need to get home asap was a priority. I heard a rumour that a Thompson coach was leaving the next day headed for Wolverhampton so I found the rep who was a real cutie and schmoozed her that night for all I was worth. Next day 10 tossas were sitting on the back seats of the coach heading for the Black Country free of charge. Once again people on the coach gave us food, drink and cigarettes. I can honestly say we experienced so much kindness and generosity from people when travelling it was really humbling.

Then we got the 966 bus from Wolverhampton to Birmingham.

The End

[sovietsong]

Can't wait for the rest of the story. Incredible stuff so far.

How long did you wait to call your sweetheart?

[celtic]

That is the end of the story about how I met my girlfriend.

However, we stayed in Costa Brava for another 4 weeks or so and by then we were pretty much busto having maybe £100 left for the 10 of us and no way of getting home. One of the tossas called Rich wanted to go to the supermarket to get us all a pasta dinner but we told him we only had enough money left for cigarettes and beer and couldn’t afford food anymore. He looked really forlorn about that and then just disappeared for 2 days after complaining he was starving. We were really worried.

On one of our final days we went to a local Tapas restaurant for a kind of last supper. They had this all you could eat buffet special and we stayed in there for most of the day just eating and eating. As we emerged into the evening sunlight everybody felt really bloated and satisfied.

All of a sudden we heard cries of STOP! THIEF! and everyone whirled around to see a young desperate man with wild eyes sprinting at full pelt carrying a bag of apples. He was being chased by two enraged locals from the fruit shop. That desperate young man who sprinted past us and down the promenade was our missing friend tossa Rich. Such a weird and hilarious sight to witness the Head Boy of a prestigious grammar school resorting to desperately stealing apples from a fruit stand. However Rich was also a cross country champion so he left the locals for dust much to our delight. It did sober us up to the reality things were getting kinda desperate though.

So next day with petty thief Rich back in the fold we hatched a plan to split into 5 teams of 2 and try to make it back to England by hitchhiking. We decided to all meet up at this camp site in Perpignan, South of France as our first check point and then push on to England from there.

I was teamed with Frazer and we absolutely crushed the challenge. We walked about 2km to the start of the motorway where we found this little roadside café. We asked loads of people for a lift north but everyone declined, even these two English lads said no which was disappointing. However, I noticed one of them was wearing a pair of Leicester City shorts and so started chanting “There’s only one Rooster Russell” in homage to Leicester player Kevin Russell nicknamed Rooster. Turned out this guy was Rooster’s number one fan and he started clapping and joining in. Five minutes later we were sat in the back of their Golf GTI motoring north.

These guys were legends and gave us food, drinks, benson & hedges, and some spending money. They kept apologising for saying no when we asked for a lift but said they were wary about being conned or robbed. We talked football all the way and they actually dropped us off in Perpignan right outside the camp site.

Over the next few weeks the other teams started dribbling into Perpignan with various harrowing tales of their adventures. As we cruised along in the GTI with air-con and all our needs taken care of the rest of the lads hadn’t been so fortunate. Sleeping by the roadside, scavenging food, being attacked was all pretty standard. About 3 weeks later a bedraggled Bonny and Matt finally turned up with the most bizarre story. They had been forced to join a travelling bull circus (don’t know wtf one of those are) as performers on account of the fact the convoy was moving North. Apparently the owner was a real cruel bastard who treated the bulls and staff with a sadistic cruelty. When the bull circus got near the border with France our heroes made a break for it in the middle of the night and hitched a lift to Perpignan. Oh and they brought a dog with them.

All together again we started thinking about phase 2 of the plan. Up to this point we were surviving on food dished out by fellow campers so the need to get home asap was a priority. I heard a rumour that a Thompson coach was leaving the next day headed for Wolverhampton so I found the rep who was a real cutie and schmoozed her that night for all I was worth. Next day 10 tossas were sitting on the back seats of the coach heading for the Black Country free of charge. Once again people on the coach gave us food, drink and cigarettes. I can honestly say we experienced so much kindness and generosity from people when travelling it was really humbling.

Then we got the 966 bus from Wolverhampton to Birmingham.

The End

This made me laugh for some reason.

Great story Mantis. Got any more?

[Sheriff Fatman]

I think it's unfair to compare previous generations marriages to currant generations

Completely different

Why?  The vows you make to each other are exactly the same as before (other than the dropping of 'obey' in general).

[outragous76]

I think it's unfair to compare previous generations marriages to currant generations

Completely different

Why?  The vows you make to each other are exactly the same as before (other than the dropping of 'obey' in general).

Love has changed ?!?!??!?

[Alverton]

I think it's unfair to compare previous generations marriages to currant generations

Completely different

Why?  The vows you make to each other are exactly the same as before (other than the dropping of 'obey' in general).

Love has changed ?!?!??!?

Every marriage in my father and fathers father generations was for love?!?!?!?

[paulhouk03]

Think people get married for the wrong reasons these days and alot don't actually love each other

Also a lot more  is on offer then before

[RED-DOG]

Think people get married for the wrong reasons these days and alot don't actually love each other

Also a lot more  is on offer then before

Now I'm interested. What is it?   

[rfgqqabc]

Think people get married for the wrong reasons these days and alot don't actually love each other

Also a lot more  is on offer then before

Now I'm interested. What is it?   

Liberation of female rights? Social acceptance of GLBT? hologram porn?

[jgcblack]

I think it's unfair to compare previous generations marriages to currant generations

Completely different

Why?  The vows you make to each other are exactly the same as before (other than the dropping of 'obey' in general).

This is absolutely not the case, social circumstances forced relationships to stay together before.  It also made sure that people didn't just give up at the first hurdle.
Some of this is positive, some might be seen as negative...
Either way, anyone who wants to say relationships are the same now as 10 years ago, 20 years ago, 30 years ago and so on... is in my mind - just kidding themselves.


These are the reasons I put this thread up.  I am currently in the middle of a personal change in my life... and I'm super bi-polar about it.

There is one part of me that knows that I'm good with women (yer yeh) and that I'm able to foster relationships with them easier than most and that I enjoy that.  That meeting new women and experiencing new things is a lot of fun.
And the other part of me knows that I've had a very loving and dedicated partner... possibly so much so that I'll never have the like again, in all my life.


And trying to work out what I actually want - which is harder than it sounds.

Having just watched Baz Luhrmanns Romeo and Juliet for the first time in a few years (studied at school) a phrase I heard in a film springs to mind.
"you either die a hero or you live to become the bad guy"
which I guess is the same as
"you either die young or you live to see the fun fade"


Not meaning to bum anyone out here, its just tough for me to work out how to listen to two so completely different parts of myself - thinking about things in two completely different ways.  If I try to silence one, it will eventually bleed through since its clearly part of me, but they don't work together.......


hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[mondatoo]

I never realised Mantis was Jeeves, good stuff Mantis.

[taximan007]

<3 Mantis even MORE than before....

[Sheriff Fatman]

I think it's unfair to compare previous generations marriages to currant generations

Completely different

Why?  The vows you make to each other are exactly the same as before (other than the dropping of 'obey' in general).

This is absolutely not the case, social circumstances forced relationships to stay together before.  It also made sure that people didn't just give up at the first hurdle.

This is absolutely the case.  The vows you make are the same, and are a lifetime commitment.  Point me to the example, other than the one I gave, where they're materially different.

Marriage itself is absolutely the same as it always has been.  The difference is that people's attitudes to it have changed over time.

[kukushkin88]

I think it's unfair to compare previous generations marriages to currant generations

Completely different

Why?  The vows you make to each other are exactly the same as before (other than the dropping of 'obey' in general).

This is absolutely not the case, social circumstances forced relationships to stay together before.  It also made sure that people didn't just give up at the first hurdle.

This is absolutely the case.  The vows you make are the same, and are a lifetime commitment.  Point me to the example, other than the one I gave, where they're materially different.

Marriage itself is absolutely the same as it always has been.  The difference is that people's attitudes to it have changed over time.

I can´t think of anything that would fundamentally change an institution like marriage more than people´s attitudes towards it changing. The words, that are based on an antiquated prayer might be the same but marriage can´t possibly be the same if people view it differently.

[Sheriff Fatman]

I think it's unfair to compare previous generations marriages to currant generations

Completely different

Why?  The vows you make to each other are exactly the same as before (other than the dropping of 'obey' in general).

This is absolutely not the case, social circumstances forced relationships to stay together before.  It also made sure that people didn't just give up at the first hurdle.

This is absolutely the case.  The vows you make are the same, and are a lifetime commitment.  Point me to the example, other than the one I gave, where they're materially different.

Marriage itself is absolutely the same as it always has been.  The difference is that people's attitudes to it have changed over time.

I can´t think of anything that would fundamentally change an institution like marriage more than people´s attitudes towards it changing. The words, that are based on an antiquated prayer might be the same but marriage can´t possibly be the same if people view it differently.

That's like saying that swearing on oath in court isn't the same as it was previously as it's "just a bunch of antiquated words."

Not the best defence you could ever come up with if you were accused of perjury.

My point is that if people can't be bothered to take the marriage oath seriously (and it's pretty explicit and clear as to what you're committing to) then why bother going through with it at all?  Nothing is any different now in terms of the commitment that you stand up and make to the one's your parents' and grandparents' generations made, so trying to argue that it's any different seems odd to me.