I watch you siting at the bar, boring holes in the liquor display with your eyes. A man grinning ear to ear comes to order drinks and tell you the way of the world. You listen politely, laugh as he finishes and his grin widens, and you raise your hand in goodbye as he carries three drinks in two hands walking back to his group of friends. The man sitting a chair away from you, who was previously watching the game on TV with mild interest, turns to you and lets you know the first man is wrong. See, that guy didn't know what he knows, and he wants you should know the way things really work. As he talks, you nod and sip your drink at polite intervals.
It's a slow night. The first man is at a large table with several of his co-workers. They are animated and laugh at this and that. A few other groups are in various booths explaining their lives or responding to the happenings of their friend's lives.
The bar becomes quiet as the second man winds up telling his thoughts. Before the second man returns to his drink and the mildly-interesting game on TV, he looks back at you and makes no apologies for telling the whole truth and nothing but.
Another man standing near you by the bar who has an imported beer leveled in front of him and his eyes fixed on the television at the far edge of the bar says that Solomon said, "There is nothing new under the sun.'" He sips his beer and wipes his mouth with his hand before bringing it back down to his side. "If we didn't make new generations, we would stop falling for the same old shit."
You don't turn around when he starts or stops talking. You stare at the liquor display and sip your drink.
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