FNF: Brien’s Stories

It’s been awhile since writing a Friday Night Funny story, and the muse was upon me so I decided to type out another. OK, so I am posting this on a Sunday, so we’ll consider this a FNF a couple days late.

In the 90’s I hung around a lot with my pal Brian. Though back in the day he spelled it Brien. He was like me in some ways and unlike me in many others, which I think is the basis of a good friendship.

One time, we went to see a movie. I can’t seem to remember the title. We had gotten there early, so we had to wait until they were ready to let us in. We played some video games, and then got a couple of sodas. He got a Dr. Pepper, and I got a Coke. We then sat in the lobby and waited until they were ready.

The sodas were the same size and looked identical. I took up what I thought was my soda, and began to take a sip. Immediately I realized that I grabbed Brien’s Dr. Pepper instead of my Coke. Slowly and as carefully as I could I laid down his soda exactly where it was.

I think Brien was reading something and seemed distracted, so I got away with it. Then I hear him remark, “So how was that Dr. Pepper?”. Damn! Apparently I learned then that I am not as slick as I thought I was.

The funniest moment though was at a Best Buy store. Being a tech nerd it remains one of my favorite places to shop. Brien went with me one day, and we were looking though CDs. With Brien being at least 10 years my younger, we definitely had some different tastes in music.

For some unknown reason, the discussion that Brien and I had in the record department turned into a light argument. Brien maintained that I knew nothing of the latest decade in music. I admit being a child of the 80s, that music will always be a part of me. However, Brien chooses to criticize me for not opening my mind to more modern music of the 90s.

I admit that I listen to some modern tunes, even today. There is some stuff I like, but most of the modern music coming out is not what I would call quality.

Brien set through a challenge. Music was playing in the Best Buy store, and Brien said to me, “I bet you don’t even know what artist is playing the song that is playing.”

I listened to the music intensely, and after the song was over, I remarked, “It sounds like Garbage to me”

Brien’s jaw completely dropped and eyes widened in surprised, and got a bit of a stammer in his voice when he said “yeah, yeah, that’s right. How did you know?”

I responded, “It just sounded like Garbage to me”.

Then Brien got a bit of a questioning look to his face, not quite believing me, and rephrased his question, “No, how did you know that the band’s name was Garbage?”

“There’s a band named Garbage?” I said.

We laughed about the confusion, and I got a complete lesson in the alternative rock band Garbage.