Text 15000, 95 rader
Skriven 2011-08-28 20:52:00 av JIM WELLER (1:123/140)
Ärende: In defense of bars...
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 Bars, The Universe, and Everything Posted by Michael J. Neff

Understanding the universe is a difficult proposition. We've got our
little rock at the shady end of the Milky Way, nestled around an
insignificant star, where we nurture the illusion that the
infinitesimal amounts of time we call a lifespan has some effect on
the vastness of the cosmos around us. Anyone who studies quantum
physics can tell you that it's a madhouse out there, and our place
in it is of questionable importance. Does the universe exist because
we're there to observe it? Or do the galaxies swirl their way
through the dimensions, ignorant of the fact that an upstart race of
sentient beings keep beating their fists against their chests
screaming, "Hey! Look at me!"

If I don't want to blow my own mind, curl up in a ball, and give
myself over to the fact that my place in the universe is equivalent
to a cosmic dust-bunny, I focus on the things that get me up in the
morning. My family. My wife and daughters. The community of people I
am proud to call friends, partners, co-workers, colleagues, and
collaborators. For me, the comedy and drama of life is the point
itself. And as any good playwright knows, every performance needs a
backdrop. Throughout much of human history, that backdrop has been
the local bar.

Bars exist at a beautiful nexus of time and space. They
simultaneously help connect us to our lives and escape them. Bars of
any stripe are more than bricks and mortar-they are the collective
experiences of all who frequent them.

I was recently sitting over an after-shift beer with one of my
barbacks. He was going through a bit of an existential crisis, one
which many of us who have been in this business for any length of
time would recognize. What am I doing here? Am I wasting my time?
The service industry for many people in this country is a
treading-water career, one which supports you while you learn to do
something more valuable. We professional bartenders have made great
strides recently in legitimizing what we do for a living, but it's
still easy to look at a life-long bartender and see nothing more
than a failed actor.

While I don't claim to have the answers for everyone, I could tell
him how I've lasted for sixteen years without feeling like I've
failed at something better. It's simple; I can't name much better.
The service we bartenders provide is vital, both for communities and
individuals. A good bar defines the outlines of a community. It is
the clearinghouse of ideas. I can't count the number of business
plans and project outlines I've seen jotted on the back of coasters.

I don't claim that we are perfect. Yes, people get drunk in bars.
And yes, that can be a problem. But more often, it's not. More
often, that little jolt of hooch gave a nice young man the extra bit
of gumption to go talk to that girl sitting with her friends. I have
been there when many a wife met her husband. On a purely human
level, what could be better than that?

we rely on the magic of fermentation to help us through our short
time on this planet.
People drink in bars for many reasons: sometimes to find solace,
sometimes perspective, sometimes to find joy in the art of flavor,
and sometimes they just want to put the trials of life on hold for a
few hours and enjoy themselves. If you're lucky, you meet someone
like yourself, and the universe does what it does. Whatever the
reason, we rely on the magic of fermentation to help us through our
short time on this planet. We always have, and I hope we always
will.

The reason I work in bars, and the reason I am proud to help create
them, is because I think they are vitally important. While bars
might not be the center of the universe, they are often the centers
of communities. We rely on them when times are tough. We flock to
them to celebrate victories and lick our wounds in defeat. When we
are lonely and have nowhere else to go, there is a door open
somewhere through which we are welcome. Someone will talk to you.
Someone will acknowledge your existence. Bartenders might not be
firemen, but we have our own way of saving lives.

Is working in this industry a waste of time? This is the shortest
answer I can give. Those of us who distill your spirits, squeeze
grapes for your wine, craft your cocktails and pour your pints do
what we do because we love the process, we love the craft, and we
love the community. We do it for ourselves. We do it for you. And,
in many ways, we do it because it must be done.

Cheers

YK Jim


... Craft beer is available at most good bars and many bad ones as well.

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