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Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Cocktail Hour

As a few of you may know, back in a past life I was a bartender.  I can thank the drinkers of California for paying the entirety of my university tuition, funding the early stages of my boot addiction and teaching me that gin comes from Jesus.
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One of the bars I slung drinks behind was host to a great number of fantastic regulars.  Not the aperitif swilling set, but the oldies, the goodies, the down-home blue collar workers who would could be counted on like clockwork.
The memory of one particular such man has stuck with me:
He was petite for a man, but petite was not a word one would dare utter in his presence.  He wore a beard like the fourth member of ZZ Top and occasionally the leathers to match.  He drank long neck Buds, and in no short supply, accompanied by a wife with blood red nails, tight jeans and a shameless bouffant.  He was the head foreman for a large crew of men, that much I knew, and during the building boom in the Silicon Valley he had done very well.  I was one of his favorites, that much I knew as well.
When he commandeered his seat at the bar, I would shove an entire six-pack on ice, pour a healthy shot of Jack and wait.  Wait for the phone call that always made my day.
He'd call up one of his men, ask how the work was coming, if they'd wrapped up for the day.  And if they had, he'd bellow into that tiny black apparatus
"Well then Com'on Down N' Hava Cocktail!"

There was no question of where.
There was no question of what (like I said, the man was a Budweiser drinker though and through).
And within thirty minutes, I'd have a crew that could raise a house crammed around my tiny bar, drinking "cocktails" as fast as I could crack 'em open.

Mr. ZZ Bud, you were one of my favorites too.
* * *
All that to say, if you've finished up for the day, com'on down n' hava cocktail with me.  This big ol' bottle of Sapphire isn't going to drink it self!

6 comments:

jordan said...

mmmm....sapphire....
Gin IS from the gods, that much is true!
xo

Cat said...

I am on my way : )
mmmm
looks like I might be making a pit stop in Colombia first though ; )
leaving on the jet plane tomorrow
butterflies in my tummy
emotions galore
I will be reporting in at Love and Light with an image a day
say a prayer for me : )

and keep one on ice for me, when I get back♥

love and light

pencilfox said...

i love it.
i love the "visual" of you slinging drinks and taking command of your station.

when i'd talk to people in bars, they would ask me: what's it like being a nurse? and i'd say: the only difference between being a nurse and being a bartender is that
if you're a bartender you can tell the clients "wait your effin turn....i'll be there when i get there...."

MrsLittleJeans said...

Somehow I know that you can make anyone drink out of your hands, you can lead them to the water, etc etc...this is a sweet tale to remember...xx

Unknown said...

You had me at "and teaching me that gin comes from Jesus."

Valerie

UmberDove said...

Jordan, Jane - Right? Right!

Cat - OH! So incredibly excited for you miss! It will be brilliant, that much I'm sure of.

Foxy - HA! True enough! And I tell you what, I'm sure we both have stories that could make a cheetah blush it's spots right off.

MLJ - That line, said in that partial slur, has been one of my favorite memories of that particular bar. That man was a gem in the rough.

Valerie - Lady. I've got a glass with your name on it.