One Saturday Night. (Blogophilia 15.13)

There was a bar I was a regular at called Good Ol' Days, so much so the waitresses would have the pitcher (and however many glasses we needed) by the time My friends and I would sit down. And like any good bar, there are bar stories, one's you wonder how it happened. 

The best one happened right after I got married. It was a pretty fall day and my wife and I sat outside watching the butterflies play on the patio railing as we watched the sunset across the road. 

Since this was kind of a "date", she insisted I dress up a little. I had on a white sport coat with an open collar shirt. I was working out a bit then making me look a little like a bouncer. A couple friends stopped by our table and we waxed loquacious about jobs, relationships, and who would be the next spouse to get knocked up. A =band was butchering a cover of "You Spin Me Around (like a record)", making it sound like "My Big Ten Inch (Record). The crowd was lubricated enough to substitute the lyrics. 

After a while, our waiter (who was also a good friend of mine) came up to take our order. We got a double order of fried mushrooms and flower pot sandwichs. When we finished, he whispered to me to keep an eye on the two drunks behind me. They had a pretty large tab and they were getting squirrely. I had a few years of restaurant work under my belt. I glanced back and guessed what was going to happen. 

As soon as my friend went back into the kitchen, the drunk dudes split in different directions, one heading to the Firestone store on the other side of the patio and the other toward the street. I chose the one heading to the tire store. When he got to the split rail fence separating the two properties, he turned around to see if anyone had seen...only to look me straight in the eyes.

I said in my most persuasive voice: "Sir, don't lose your sparkle but I don't believe you have paid your bill." To which he hemmed and hawed and tried to get his wallet out as I took him back to the manager. Meanwhile, my buddy the waiter caught the other guy in the middle of the street and hauled his ass back in. 

My wife and I had our meal comped for the night and the manager asked me never to do that again. 

Damn, I miss that place.

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Topic- Rebecca Grussendorf

Pic-Colleen Keller Bruenig

Pic Guesses: Butterflies (in the blog), alight, Float, Winging it