By far tonight was the coldest of the season. A Whopping -9 degrees afflicted the streets of Alfred. I dreaded leaving the warmth of my apartment and the company of my pup for the desolate cold bar that was awaiting me two minutes away. I arrived a few minutes early surprising my fellow barkeep and myself. My expectations had not left me disappointed, the bar was cold and dead, but with a much needed hug from Mike, the bartender I was releasing, it made coming to work on a night like this a bit more bearable.
On this night there wasn’t going to be the thankful visit from Dionne or the amusing entertainment from the group of guys that came to play pool. School was done for the semester and friends had moved on or gone home for break. The next five hours would be spent on a barstool clinging to the company of a space heater. The events of the weekend had left me in a funk and unfortunately there would be little distraction from my thoughts.
I began to settle in to my shift when I saw a book that Jade had undoubtedly left from her shift the night before where she was perched on the same barstool clinging to the same space heater. About a month ago, in my attempt to keep my mind from resembling the atmosphere of this bar, I had vowed that I was going to start reading. Dionne had given me the Kite Runner the week before and I had finished it in two days. The part of me that wanted to escape reality couldn’t wait for the next book. So instead of facebook stalking or searching for the boots I’ll never buy I close my laptop and pick up Fast Food Nation and begin to read. Not exactly the novel I was expecting, but nonetheless a vessel to fuel my mind.
