Last night we went to Irene’s Pub to see Hella Stella perform, because how often do you get an opportunity to see one of your favourite people performing at one of your favourite pubs? Fellow bloggers Milan and La Canadienne were there too. Hella Stella was excellent, as always, and we even stayed for a bit of The Gruff, a mostly-female roots-country band. We liked them but it was getting late and we were getting sleepy.
Remember that post I wrote about cancer etiquette? Well. It seems I neglected to put something on the “Do Not Do” list. Something that actually happened on the way out of Irene’s last night.
We stopped by the cash to pay our bill, and the bartender, Kim, asked me how things were going with the cancer.
“Good,” I said, “Everything’s been good lately.”
Then she reached over, cupped both my breasts in her hands and squeezed gently. “Are they both still yours?” she asked.
I kid you not. She did that. There are witnesses.
This is an absolutely classic example of something you ought not do, under any circumstances, to anybody you know with breast cancer. Kim, however, is probably the only person in the entire universe who could get away with it. She’s outrageous and audacious and I’ve known her for 25 years. So while I couldn’t believe she actually did that, it mostly just struck me as funny. And weird. Definitely weird.
It was so nice to see you both there! Sorry about the boob-cupping – pretty wild, actually. I’ve certainly boob-cupped before, but it was related to drinking, not to cancer.
It was good to see you yesterday, as well.
I now have both of The Gruff’s albums, and am annoyed that work is too busy to allow me to listen to them now.
I am shocked to say the least. What an odd thing to do!
You must have been embarrassed. Sometimes people don’t think
before they do something stupid
Hella Stella, I think this one was a drinking/cancer cross-over.
Milan, it’s a good thing then that it’s not too busy for blog-reading! 😉
Rita, no, I wasn’t embarrassed. I thought it was pretty funny. Only because it was Kim though. Anybody else, I would have been appalled.
I wonder if she was gonna make you an offer on them!
Reminds me of the people who think it’s is okay to touch a pregnant belly without permission. With the exception of my already-born children and perhaps the one responsible alnong with me for making the pregnant belly, I never really wanted a whole lot of rubbing being done.
How would your bartender friend greet someone with prostate cancer I wonder?
I have also since googled proper spelling of testicular.
Over and out.
grace, I laughed and laughed! Zoom…hum…yep, that was a strange thing to say…and do….
wow kim’s got some balls. awkward but funny.
What can you do? It’s all good.
That woman was weird, but I can’t believe she did that! It was weird enough when she kept trying to give Milan food he hadn’t ordered.
My husband has a cancer riddled family and we’ve had discussions on cancer etiquettte. That is one that has Never come up. I’ll remember it for our next discussion. Good thing she’s a friend.
O-M-G!
You know Zoom, she’s been looking for an excuse to do that for 25 years.
Very strange