I got a suprising phone call from a friend today.

[Blazer]

Okay, Vince is a guy that I have known since childhood meeting him in the elementary school I attended and we also went to middle school and High school together. In recent years though we've drifted apart due to our lives heading in different directions and even though our so called "Club of friends" which consists of former classmates from the high school we attended has held several meetings in which we either go to a festival or to a theme park, I never see him outside these things.

A few months ago, my band played a gig in Maastricht and I figured that it would be a perfect opportunity to have the gang together. So I called Vince up and got his mother on the line (Vince has a mental disability and lives in his parent's house) who told me that Vince was out with a guy he met at work. Regardless of that I told her about the gig and she said she would tell him about it.

Vince and his buddy were there at the gig and saw us play that October evening. And that was the last I saw of him for a while, until he phoned me up today. We chatted a bit about life and work and then he suddenly said. "I'm sorry about my friend, I shouldn't have brought him along to your performance." A bit surprised with that I asked him why he thought so. "He reeks, I even made him take a shower before we headed your way and he still had that foul smell going."

I went "Dude, we played in a bar which was packed with people, all sweaty and stinking from alcohol, did you seriously think that we noticed? I was too busy focusing on that blond girl in the front row."

Later that night I went playing pool with my best friend (and band stage manager) Raymond and I told him about that. We were laughing our butts off at the absurdity. Here's Vince, a guy who we have known all our lives and who we rarely have contact with calling me up to apologize for the way his friend smelled?

Truth can be stranger than fiction. I love Vince as a dear childhood friend but every so once in a while I'm baffled by his weirdness.

[jmcgliss]

What I got from the story is that Vince has a disability, he made a new friend at work, and they both came to your gig despite getting the message second-hand, right? Sounds like Vince is doing OK to me.