Today was World Book Night, and I had the opportunity to distribute The Tender Bar by J. R. Moehringer. It's actually one of my favorite books. This may be because of the amount of time I spent on both sides of the bar in college and my early teaching career. When I applied to hand out this book, I stated that I was going to give it to people working in the service industry. This snowy morning, I started with the baristas at Caribou. I also gave two copies to guys in the parking lot. One man was a bit shocked when I explained it was a coming of age story about a guy that falls in love with the bar. Actually, it was my next comment that caused an the look to come across his face, "Everyone loves a bar." He told me that he used to love the bar... too much. I think he'll like the book. My next books went to the workers at SA when I stopped to get a diet soda at lunch. Finally, I decided to give my remaining books to bartenders and bar patrons. I thought it would take longer since I set out a little after three pm. Within a half hour, all of my books were gifted. It's amazing the number of people sitting in the bar in the middle of the afternoon. All were shocked and pleased. My last stop was Bryant Lake Bowl. It's too bad the picture is blurry because these two guys were awesome. The bartender was attractive, and the other guy was kind. I said the point was to give books to people who don't read a lot. He felt bad because he was a reader and tried to give the book back. Of course, I let him keep it. The people at the Driftwood were perhaps my favorite. As I explained the story, they were paging through the book. When I left, I heard one guy comment, "Doesn't everyone fall in love with the bar?!" Yep, perhaps this is true. At some point in our lives, maybe most of us fall in love with the bar. Thanks World Book Night, and thanks J. R. Moehringer.
Today was World Book Night, and I had the opportunity to distribute The Tender Bar by J. R. Moehringer. It's actually one of my favorite books. This may be because of the amount of time I spent on both sides of the bar in college and my early teaching career. When I applied to hand out this book, I stated that I was going to give it to people working in the service industry. This snowy morning, I started with the baristas at Caribou. I also gave two copies to guys in the parking lot. One man was a bit shocked when I explained it was a coming of age story about a guy that falls in love with the bar. Actually, it was my next comment that caused an the look to come across his face, "Everyone loves a bar." He told me that he used to love the bar... too much. I think he'll like the book. My next books went to the workers at SA when I stopped to get a diet soda at lunch. Finally, I decided to give my remaining books to bartenders and bar patrons. I thought it would take longer since I set out a little after three pm. Within a half hour, all of my books were gifted. It's amazing the number of people sitting in the bar in the middle of the afternoon. All were shocked and pleased. My last stop was Bryant Lake Bowl. It's too bad the picture is blurry because these two guys were awesome. The bartender was attractive, and the other guy was kind. I said the point was to give books to people who don't read a lot. He felt bad because he was a reader and tried to give the book back. Of course, I let him keep it. The people at the Driftwood were perhaps my favorite. As I explained the story, they were paging through the book. When I left, I heard one guy comment, "Doesn't everyone fall in love with the bar?!" Yep, perhaps this is true. At some point in our lives, maybe most of us fall in love with the bar. Thanks World Book Night, and thanks J. R. Moehringer.
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