tim’s thought property

Ah, it was that time again.
The semi-annual event known as Steak Night came and went, this January 24th. What started as an honest attempt to go out for a steak dinner, ended up being an event in which a group of rowdy man-boys come together to eat all-you-can-eat ribs; use their white shirts as napkins and generate laughter and good times; all under the pretense of time with the guys.

This small, cross-sampling of friends of mine, had grown into an evening much talked about and reminisced.
It was spawned at a birthday barbecue I had a while back, when a friend of mine, Mark Neufeld and I decided that we should try to go out for a fancy steak dinner. We were cooking steak on a hibachi grill, and felt that we should get it done in a restaurant that knows the job well.

We tried the event at Muddy Waters Steak House, a few times; we tried a backyard bbq once; and we settled on Montana’s. Although, one fateful Steak Night (number 6, if I’m correct), the Montana’s kitchen ran out of all-you-can-eat ribs. We had to cross the street to Kelsey’s, which was quite unsuited for out hi jinx.

The white shirt idea came out of nowhere.
I don’t recall how, but I figured, it would be a riot if we used spotless white shirts as napkins. From the very first Steak Night, with four diners, we used our shirts as gauges of how much we ate, and enjoyed. Although we’ve come to realize that the rib sauce is often quite tasty, it still looks great to be tall, robust, young men, with dirty-as-a-child-eating-spaghetti shirts.

Even though different people come every time,
there is always a sense of familiarity and community.

Whether it’s someone that you met the last time, six months prior,
or someone you’ve met for the first time at the current Steak Night; everyone is welcomed and appreciated.

For somewhere it was said that one should find comfort in camaraderie;
that to eat, drink an be merry was a small part of savouring life. We to tend to navigate close to gluttony, but as time passes, we’ve found that we’re wising up to the stomach’s language. It cannot take but more than twice a year, the indulgence of such carnivorous action.

And if that doesn’t get you to be of sober mind,
then the price seems to. Who can afford to eat Rib dinners all that often, on the salary of students, baristas and servers? Nay, it is a prudent thing to have a tight wallet in these days.
There is also a specialness to the rarity of such an event.
It takes time to wash the stains out of a white shirt….

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-group pictures one, two and three taken by Eric Ens