Bar Tales

What comes to mind when you hear the term "biker bar"? Yeah, mine too but I went anyway. Last night's bar was pretty typical as far as biker joints go. Except I think nowadays, the bikers all have white collar jobs and this is how they let loose on the weekend. There were just as many female bikers as males last night, which I found really interesting. The place was smaller than the main conference room at the office and the people were older, which I prefer. Older meaning, closer to my age than to my son's age. With this age group you really don't have to worry about people vomiting on the floor right in front of you because almost everyone is drinking Mich Ultra. You ever have a Mich Ultra? I don't drink beer but I took a sip once and they taste like water.

Anyway, B gets there before me and when I walk in the door he's talking to the owner-lady that booked him. She was very nice but she left before we even got started ... not the biker bar type I reckon. Smart girl. The folks in here are loud and I knew it would be an interesting night. Either they'd talk over us all night or they would dance on the non-dance floor and sing really loudly. I started to sing and at first they were trying to talk over me but after the first few songs they started to pay attention and the women started dirty dancing with each other. I'll never understand that. At one point, one woman was slapping the booty of another woman and she asked B, "doesn't she have a nice butt?" He looked at me trying to figure out if he should answer or not. I just rolled my eyes. So he says over the mic, "I'm not looking at her butt ... you can't be doing that in front of my girlfriend!" So I say, "Oh but if I wasn't here it would be okay?"

Whatever, guitar boy just play a friggin' song.

We were nearing the end of the first set and I was getting tired. I had been up since six and I was winding down fast. I started to sing some Jo.hn May.er song and I notice this one chick standing right in front of me while I was singing. I was tired and not moving and she was smiling hard and trying to get me to move and shake and sing harder. She had me dying! I gave her a little something and she went and sat down. But during the break she gave me an earful. She's telling me her life story (because that's what people in bars do) and how things are sometimes hard but she's grateful for her friends and family and it doesn't matter how hard things get. She asked me if I knew how lucky I was to be up there singing with my man. "Do you know how many people would kill to be able to do something fun with their man, Sugar? Tomorrow is not promised so when ya'll get back up there I want you to sing your heart out. Sing like there is no tomorrow!"

Now this woman may have been high on something else besides life and her man had just left her for a 22-year old bartender but that doesn't mean she didn't make a good point. I'll admit that when I go to these gigs I usually look like I don't want to be there. Which I'm sure is not very inspiring to the audience. I have no excuse other than the fact that I've been working all week and by the time Friday rolls around I'm tired. On the other hand, if I didn't want to do the gig I shouldn't have agreed to it a month ago. So this lady is talking me up and really encouraging me so during the second set I did my thing with her in mind. I opened my mouth and sang. I danced like no one was watching. I had a really good time. It was fun and when she left she kissed me on the cheek and thanked me.

I received some really good advice last night in a biker bar. Live every moment to its fullest. Go figure.