Last night at the bar

I debated with myself for a while before finally deciding to go to Scrumpy Jacks last night to see a coworker perform.

Ash sings all the time at work–generally parodies on the name of another coworker–and I was curious to hear him in “real time”. He had posters up at work for the last couple of weeks–and he also actually asked me to show up. “It won’t be death metal or anything,” he says “just me and an acoustic guitar. Just your average bar music.”

What I haven’t mentioned yet is that:

1. I don’t go to bars
2. I don’t drink alcohol “solo” (without a meal)
3. I don’t hang out with coworkers outside of the “office”
4. I don’t go to concerts (in general)
5. I don’t go out on Saturday nights

That’s an awful lot of don’ts. So perhaps you can understand my inner debate.

Scrumpy Jacks isn’t exactly a bar–it’s a restaurant that closes the kitchen at 10 pm and keeps its bar open ’til one while they have live music. Still, for all intents and purposes, it’s a bar–and there’s little chance that I’ll be sitting down to a meal with the music starting at 9:30.

I’ve never, in all my years (hardy har, don’t I make myself sound old?) of working, spent time with coworkers outside of the workplace. I like to keep personal time sacred. I have no desire to be one of those people whose life revolves around work and coworkers and what I’m doing with either. I especially have little desire to join the “after work at the bars” crowd.

I’m not really a music person. I listen to music on occasion. I enjoy classical music, and seek to appreciate it. I enjoy jazz. I enjoy singing to oldies. Mostly I like worship music, something I can dance to. With the exception of an orchestral performance or something of the like, I don’t go places for the sole purposes of listening to music.

And I have church in the morning and am exhausted already from a long work week.

So what do I do? I change into a conservative tank top and sweater, slip on loafers, and drive across town to Scrumpy Jacks. I order a Sierra Mist for $1.86 and tip $5–I do know that bartenders aren’t generally that fond of non-drinkers, and that it’s a good idea to keep a bartender on your side. I hope that a big tip helps. I slide into a chair in the little corner area, say hello to a coworker, and listen to the music.

It was pretty good. Ash sings well, plays well, has a good “stage presence” in general. I enjoyed the music–with the exception of the occasional vulgarity and the couple of token anti-America, anti-Bush, anti-war songs. I was only there from ten to eleven–so nobody had gotten too drunk, the bar wasn’t that full.

It turned out to be fairly innocuous. I drank 20 ounces of Sierra Mist, listened to some music, and spoke maybe 20 words to a coworker. I was thankful that I’d slipped almost completely under the radar. Whew! A night of doing my don’ts and I escape without notice–Well, almost.

Ash had just finished a song when I left, so he was filling time while preparing for the next song, and my leaving was apparently ample material for time-fill. He’s chattering about me over the mic while I’m walking out, and for the most part, I’m ignoring him. Then on my way out the door, he declares “You’re a better checker than me, Rebekah.” I couldn’t help but turn around and agree. “Yes. I am,” I emphatically half-yell across the restaurant before taking my leave. So much for slipping completely under the radar.

Well, that’s might exciting night at the bar. Not too exciting, actually. But I think it’s enough of that sort of excitement to last me for a very long time. So, in case you’re looking for me some Saturday night, you’re not likely to find me in a bar.