It is 6:00 on a Saturday, and while it is quite early, the bar is standing-room only. Aside from the bartender, I am one of the youngest people present.
A group of four -- two elderly men and a married couple I later come to find have been married 44 years -- enter separately. Expensively dressed and jeweled, they seat themselves at the bar, occupy the right angles of its end.
One of the two men, a large blond man reeking of a background in outdoor sports and years of upper management, leans forward, smiling.
"Where you folks from?"
The married couple smile back. "Englewood," the man says.
"California?"
"That's the one."
There's a short-lived, genial pause as the bonhomie spreads.
"Say, don't I know you?" says the blond gentleman. "I saw you come in and I thought to myself, we've met before. Did we meet before?"
The other man leans over his wife, peers at the blond intently. "Didn't we meet Thursday?"
"Up at the Sports?"
"We were at the Sports."
"You're originally from Ohio, right?
"That's right, isn't it, Gretchen?" He draws his wife into the conversation. "We all met Thursday. You're a Buckeye. We're Buckeyes."
They raise their glasses. "We're all Buckeyes."
There is silence as the four sip their drinks. The ambient noise of the bar fills the space.
"So!" says the blond man. "What have you two been up to since the Sports?"
About Bob Dylan
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31 comments:
Tavern poetry
It makes me melancholy:
Five o'clock somewhere.
Buckeyes are everywhere.
bar conversation.....ho hum!
Freakin groundhog day.
Cheers.
TEQUILA. lol
I'm thirsty.
Sports bonding.
Now what if they had supported a rival team?
Bloodbath!!!!!!!!
Love to see that the spacing issues I had earlier were taken as poetry! :-)
Have to wonder how often these conversations take place...
Oh dear - the desperation of trying to make connections . . .
*Raises hand timidly*
What is "the Sports", Miss Pearl? And was that in the homework for today?
@ Susan in the Boonies - I see what you did there, with your Haiku :) Very good!
Frackin' buckeyes. They're everywhere.
I guess most of us feel an need to connect with others. They were trying!
Jenny, the "Sports" is a bar in Bradenton Beach, FL, but really it could be any local bar anywhere. Kind of like "the Well" or "the Lodge". :-)
It's nine o'clock on a Saturday
The regular crowd shuffles in
There's an old man sitting next to me
Makin' love to his tonic and gin
Now I will have that in my head the rest of the day... could have been worse, I `spose.
As per your wondering how often these conversations take place...I would love to see your very expertly scripted scenario as the dialoge and setting for an opening scene of "The Twilight Zone." ;) WHAT'S gonna happen next?! I am enjoying your writing :)
Ahh, thanks, Pearl.
I even googled it before I asked you. Didn't find "bar" but I did find The Sports (an Australian band), the Sports Dome and the Sports Corporation in Canada, Sports Village ... none of which quite made sense :)
Now that I'm on the same page as the rest of the class, let me say that the older I get, the more my conversations with strangers resemble the one you wrote about.
"Now, you said your wife's maiden name was Gesundheit, are you related to the Gesundheits of Back River down in Lake County? That would be George and Wilma Gesundheit, had eight children: George Jr., Georgina, Blossom, Daisy, Georgette, William, Sally and little Missy" etc, etc.
I don't know quite when I turned into my parents, I only know I did.
There's a Buckeye in every bar, or as we call them Pubs. LOL
Loved this and humour (note the correct spelling LOL) right up my street. Thanks for your visit and I'm signing up as your latest follower. Cheers ~ Eddie
Buckeyes aren't quite so friendly when they find out you're a Wolverine.
Small talk... please kill me.
Excellent writing, Pearl!! But, really, what you shoulda done was introduce yourself and save these poor people from monotony and boredom.
Tool. A blond tool.
Sounds like my worst nightmare. Small talk terrifies me.
I envy you your time spent in bars. I really do.
Rory
NOW I know why I don't spend any time in bars...
Well at least now I know where Mensa holds their meetings...
Better than telly:)
Be thankful you're not a Buckeye!
What's a Buckeye? I've never heard of this.
Hmm, the youngest person in the bar, besides the bartender. You've got to be in Florida !!!
The first time I visited Sarasota/Manatee I could not get over the fact that the bag boys at the local supermarket were older than my dad. In truth !!!
Of course now most of those old bag boys have retired, it was too difficult to use a walker and carry bags of groceries at the same time.
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