Last night fellow journalist Pamela Young and I popped into the Ruby Tuesday beside our hotel for a bite to eat and a glass of wine. We chose a quiet booth adjacent to the bar so we could catch up on WEG news and gossip and solve life’s problems. There was a gentleman (I use that term loosely) at the bar who was becoming increasingly vocal relative to the amount of beers he downed. I believe he may have been former military or a first responder judging by the topic of his ramblings and the fact he had an emotional support dog which I would venture to guess was a Dutchie ‒ a gorgeous animal.
Suddenly Mr. Overserved started chirping at a man at the other end of the bar who I also think had been in the service and it escalated into a shouting match and threats of bodily harm. It appears they were arguing over who had saved more people on 9/11… so basically who was the biggest hero. The most upsetting thing was the reaction of the poor dog who just looked miserable because his owner was being an a**hole, likely not for the first time. I think that emotional support dog could use an emotional support dog.
Police were called and we skedaddled. But I really wanted to take the dog with me.
*****
Cross-country was quite fabulous and with a little schedule twiddling the organizers managed to get the whole thing wrapped up before Florence (that bitch!) moved in. I did the usual running back and forth between the course and the mixed zone for interviews and the media centre to check the great FEI-TV feed. I also tried my hand using a new long lens I picked up for my little Canon EOS just before these games and have come to the conclusion I am a crappy photographer. I have a renewed appreciation for the talent of the real pros – it ain’t as easy as it looks! You be the judge:
The eventing competition scheduled for Sunday has been suspended until Monday. I received an alert this afternoon that the Media Center would be closed tomorrow because of expected heavy rains, so no shuttles, no services, yet the eventing jog will be taking place at 3:00 in the afternoon (?). The Dressage Freestyle has been cancelled altogether (this may become known as the Cancellation Games) but as the saying goes, “Not my circus, not my monkeys.”
I am outta here on Monday morning and Pamela will be handed the baton, so this will be my final WEG Diary entry. It’s been real … see you down the road.
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