Saturday afternoon I saw the cutest thing at the Local Pub and Grill. One of my friends, Lee, recently moved back to town after a five year job-related stint in Boston, which included a very long custody battle. When he returned, he brought back his ten year old daughter. The crew at the Local Pub (back in the day) used to hate it when Lee would cross the drunk threshold and become despondent about his little girl, who he was never allowed to see. He would show anyone who came within a three foot radius of him a picture of this beautiful little girl, and that’s real cute, but not at 2 AM while The Greatful Dead are jamming out the juke box and the bouncers are breaking up fights outside.
But now she’s back, too.
Much like her father, she is incredibly smart and tough-minded. I know, because I spent that afternoon helping Lee teach her how to shoot pool. Lee taught his daughter, much like I was taught, with a care and patience that will keep her from hating the game until she is old enough to lose money playing it. And I was happy to help.
A few more beers later in a different bar, I was sitting with an ex-girlfriend, telling her the story of the return of Lee’s daughter (whose name is way too original to put in here. Seriously, if she ever gets into show business, she won’t need a last name) and of our teaching her pool.
“I can’t believe he let a ten year old girl hang out in a smoky bar with a bunch of hapless drunks,” she said.
This is why we broke up.
“First off,” I said. “It’s a non-smoking bar until nine. Second, those aren’t hapless drunks. They’re decent people enjoying a day off, responsibly.”
“Whatever,” she said. “When are you gonna get a haircut?”
And this is my major problem with life. People, for whatever reason, are always gonna judge things they don’t understand. People, those mindless dolts, are always too quick to give advice and pass judgment before actually understanding the situation and getting to know the individuals involved.
And that’s why I hate them.
Stupid people.