A ghost bar
A simple guy making his way
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Maine
Posts: 7,867
A ghost bar
I may not go to the dive bar I once hung in for hours on end but that doesn't stop information about "the gang" from getting to me through friends of friends.... Ha... More like acquaintances of acquaintances.
He used to sit up front in the big window. Sat quietly and often spoke to himself and even whipped a few tears from what my wandering eye could make out. Didn't matter that he was a burly large fisherman. Always wore a train captains hat. In conversation he was someone memorable.
He's gone now. Heart attack on the boat. Buddies had to get to shore with him gone in the cabin. Yes... He was a very heavy drinker. Never asked why he teared. But he's one to miss.
"You shoot like a guuurrlllll!" That's girl in a New England accent. Crotchety old coot. Not much nice to say. Homeless but always clean. Z Z top beard. And not a very good pool player that he can be telling the other guys they shoot like girls. But it became his moniker and a source of a good punch line for me and my friends.
He's gone now. He was found face down in the harbor by the end of a pier. Apparently he was so drunk he fell in the water and drown.
Lastly, every place has one of these. The old guy in the corner. Doesn't say much but is ever present. His wife died and he comes and sits everyday. Henry. You can sit with him if you are felling alone. Can hold a good conversation. A lot of life lived before he found that seat. Just not much life left in him enough to get off that seat. And yes... He's past as well.
This could be any hometown bar. They all become ghost bars after a while. Sadly as long as there are alcoholics there will be ghost bars.
Maybe some kind soul would be writing about this guy Ken he met at the bar. He was memorable to speak with. Thought he was a better pool player than he really was.
Nope. That's no longer my path. It didn't change because of the people I remember vividly. I changed because I had the will to say no more. No ghost bar for me.
Stay sober today. Stay above ground please.
Ken
He used to sit up front in the big window. Sat quietly and often spoke to himself and even whipped a few tears from what my wandering eye could make out. Didn't matter that he was a burly large fisherman. Always wore a train captains hat. In conversation he was someone memorable.
He's gone now. Heart attack on the boat. Buddies had to get to shore with him gone in the cabin. Yes... He was a very heavy drinker. Never asked why he teared. But he's one to miss.
"You shoot like a guuurrlllll!" That's girl in a New England accent. Crotchety old coot. Not much nice to say. Homeless but always clean. Z Z top beard. And not a very good pool player that he can be telling the other guys they shoot like girls. But it became his moniker and a source of a good punch line for me and my friends.
He's gone now. He was found face down in the harbor by the end of a pier. Apparently he was so drunk he fell in the water and drown.
Lastly, every place has one of these. The old guy in the corner. Doesn't say much but is ever present. His wife died and he comes and sits everyday. Henry. You can sit with him if you are felling alone. Can hold a good conversation. A lot of life lived before he found that seat. Just not much life left in him enough to get off that seat. And yes... He's past as well.
This could be any hometown bar. They all become ghost bars after a while. Sadly as long as there are alcoholics there will be ghost bars.
Maybe some kind soul would be writing about this guy Ken he met at the bar. He was memorable to speak with. Thought he was a better pool player than he really was.
Nope. That's no longer my path. It didn't change because of the people I remember vividly. I changed because I had the will to say no more. No ghost bar for me.
Stay sober today. Stay above ground please.
Ken
Member
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Ma
Posts: 3,553
I know what you are talking about. Even though my local neighborhood bar is not my after work home for hours I get the news of those that have passed.
And yes,it is enough people over the past several years to fill a ghost bar.
And yes,it is enough people over the past several years to fill a ghost bar.
Realising my life
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Dorset, England
Posts: 3,656
Oh, Weasel. That's so beautifully put. I could just picture it all!
The writer in me loves your posts for their literary merit
The philosopher in me loves your posts for their profundity
The alcoholic in me loves your posts for their optimism and inspiration
And the heart in me loves your posts for their sheer humanity
You're way, way above ground for me
Thank you so much xxx
The writer in me loves your posts for their literary merit
The philosopher in me loves your posts for their profundity
The alcoholic in me loves your posts for their optimism and inspiration
And the heart in me loves your posts for their sheer humanity
You're way, way above ground for me
Thank you so much xxx
Member
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: ohio
Posts: 3,615
great post, ken. thank you!
in my neighborhood, there are two bars only about 100 feet apart. one is the "___ Tavern," a hip bar where they have good music. I used to hang out there for the happy hour and companionship. or so I thought.
the other bar is an "alkie bar." totally trashed, the décor and the clientele. the kind of bar you walk past and think, "if I ever end up THERE, I'm almost dead. NO WAY."
I hung out in the hip place for years. it's still pretty cool, I go veerrrrryyyy occasionally if they are having a band I can't resist or my partner really wants to sit outside once a summer. they pour a mean fizzy water with lime which the bartender is very happy to serve. i went there a few months ago and had that fizzy water. i could swear i saw relief in her eyes when i ordered the fizzy and not a beer.
one day, before i stopped hanging out at the bar and before that once in a blue moon fizzy, i found myself getting a tequila at the "alkie" bar. i hated being there. it reeked, nobody to talk to because most of the patrons were too drunk. want to know why i went in? because i wanted to drink more and didn't want to be seen drinking that much in the tavern. like someone wouldn't notice me leaving one bar and going into the next one. i looked around, i recognized some of the folks from a year or more before, they used to hang out at the tavern. now they were shells of themselves. i realized i was a shell of myself.
that helped me get the nerve up to quit. i didn't want to be a shell of myself. turned out i didn't want to die, either.
thank you weasel for your share. clearly it hit home.
in my neighborhood, there are two bars only about 100 feet apart. one is the "___ Tavern," a hip bar where they have good music. I used to hang out there for the happy hour and companionship. or so I thought.
the other bar is an "alkie bar." totally trashed, the décor and the clientele. the kind of bar you walk past and think, "if I ever end up THERE, I'm almost dead. NO WAY."
I hung out in the hip place for years. it's still pretty cool, I go veerrrrryyyy occasionally if they are having a band I can't resist or my partner really wants to sit outside once a summer. they pour a mean fizzy water with lime which the bartender is very happy to serve. i went there a few months ago and had that fizzy water. i could swear i saw relief in her eyes when i ordered the fizzy and not a beer.
one day, before i stopped hanging out at the bar and before that once in a blue moon fizzy, i found myself getting a tequila at the "alkie" bar. i hated being there. it reeked, nobody to talk to because most of the patrons were too drunk. want to know why i went in? because i wanted to drink more and didn't want to be seen drinking that much in the tavern. like someone wouldn't notice me leaving one bar and going into the next one. i looked around, i recognized some of the folks from a year or more before, they used to hang out at the tavern. now they were shells of themselves. i realized i was a shell of myself.
that helped me get the nerve up to quit. i didn't want to be a shell of myself. turned out i didn't want to die, either.
thank you weasel for your share. clearly it hit home.
Member
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Indiana
Posts: 639
Thank you Ken, great post. I'm afraid if I never stopped I could become that old guy with the ZZ Top beard .....many of us could....of course we still could become that guy.....if we lived to be that old?
A simple guy making his way
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Maine
Posts: 7,867
Wehav2day... That's great you could connect. I like your post a lot.
The reason this came up for me is I moved away from where my addictions were at their worst. I mean bad. But since moved back for work. I see people and they tell me things. Made me think if I ever did go back in there I would see all the ghosts from my past. While sad I realized if I had not moved and taken some action I certainly could be playing pool in the sky. (Or hope the sky.)
Thanks for sharing.
Let's stay above ground!
Ken
The reason this came up for me is I moved away from where my addictions were at their worst. I mean bad. But since moved back for work. I see people and they tell me things. Made me think if I ever did go back in there I would see all the ghosts from my past. While sad I realized if I had not moved and taken some action I certainly could be playing pool in the sky. (Or hope the sky.)
Thanks for sharing.
Let's stay above ground!
Ken
Member
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Ma
Posts: 3,553
Jimmy,the guy that always stood by the door. Talked about work a lot.(56)
Dave,sat a couple of seats down the bar to watch the Sox games. Same class in H.S. as me(50)
Wayne,outspoken political guy.Never sat down and sometimes played the Beatles when he was drunk.(54)
Larry,talked hunting all the time.Always deep in a conversation with somebody(54)
Ritchie,last seat at the bar. Talked about his old days of trucking a lot.(46)
They all died from various reasons. Some alcohol related,some not.
I'm sure there will be some more news of those that are gone or on their way out the next time I chat with somebody from the old hang out.
Glad I moved on.
Dave,sat a couple of seats down the bar to watch the Sox games. Same class in H.S. as me(50)
Wayne,outspoken political guy.Never sat down and sometimes played the Beatles when he was drunk.(54)
Larry,talked hunting all the time.Always deep in a conversation with somebody(54)
Ritchie,last seat at the bar. Talked about his old days of trucking a lot.(46)
They all died from various reasons. Some alcohol related,some not.
I'm sure there will be some more news of those that are gone or on their way out the next time I chat with somebody from the old hang out.
Glad I moved on.
A simple guy making his way
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Maine
Posts: 7,867
Resolute.... Sobering reality.
Fandy... Yes. I lived in Maine for ten years then moved to New York for 5 and then now back here. I know people but they are not sober so I have not rekindled anything. Starting from scratch. There is a meeting tonight I am excited to go to. So I am trying to get out.
K
Fandy... Yes. I lived in Maine for ten years then moved to New York for 5 and then now back here. I know people but they are not sober so I have not rekindled anything. Starting from scratch. There is a meeting tonight I am excited to go to. So I am trying to get out.
K
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