I tend to sleep with the balcony door open. Last night, around 3 am, I was awakened by loud, drunken shouting down in the yard. Not fighting, just the sort of shouting that drunkards do after drinking so much as to have lost all concept of their surroundings. I guess they might have been at the pubs in the mall across the big road, and were not in a hurry to get indoors after the pubs closed, it being a warm night. There was a woman who seemed convinced that on some bridge somewhere - I didn't quite catch what bridge - there was or had been a group of men (or youths?) who had shot somebody at the back. Being only half-awake I didn't quite catch the details of it. A drunken man's voice was telling her she was talking nonsense, but she seemed convinced of it, repeating "I'm telling the truth". Strange what alcohol can do. Maybe the woman was confusing in her booze-hazy mind reality with something she'd seen in a film or a tv show. These people sounded not so much like occasional excessive drinkers but alcoholics who've drunk so much for such a long time that the alcohol has caused permanent damage to their brain. Or perhaps they had just lost it with the drinking in the summer. After a while someone shouted down from a balcony, telling them to shut up and go home to sleep, and a bit later they either quietened down or left, or then I fell asleep again despite their voices.
“Don’t Explain. Don’t Complain”
9 months ago
6 comments:
Hi Maria,
This post caught my eye. I've posted 3 am stuff of my own (people behaving badly outside my window)! I love how brave you are, how dispassionately you describe the happenings, as if just being a reporter. I tend to get really unnerved when I hear such activity outside my window. (i.e., I don't feel "secure" at all). Sometimes it gets me really scared. And/or angry. Must try not to let it get to me. Maybe next time I'll think of you and just try to record what's happening, as if merely taking note.
:-)
P.S. Alcohol STINKS! (sometimes)
City life, free entertainment. Hmmm? Did you google to see if anyone was murdered recently in a such a manner?
peace,
Hi Lucy,
I guess it's just a matter of being used to such stuff. The drunks are such a common sight here, they hang around the suburb malls and the metro stations, here in eastern Helsinki anyway.
Hi Ronny,
I guess so, though I'd preferred not to have my sleep disturbed. Didn't go and google, mustn't trust a drunk's words. :-)
Fact that i am a Bukowski fan I should have realized as much.
Habitual drinkers often live in a world of their own making. The woman may well have thought she saw something, but it could also have happened months or even years ago. Their brains really do become addled. Sorry you had to be disturbed like that Maria. We are so used to such drunken shouting here in the harbour, we just sleep though it now...open hatches and all!
Having said that a month or two ago, we were disturbed by a drunken man yelling abuse at someone and throwing tables and chairs into the water from one of the local cafes. It transpired he'd lost his wallet and was accusing the restaurant owner of stealing it. I don't know what the outcome was, but it went quiet after the police turned up - late as always!
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