OUR LOCAL

We are blessed in our neighborhood with what the British would call a ‘local’.
Brits define ‘local’ as a pub close to one's home or place of work.

Other terms come to mind: inn; tavern; canteen; public house; watering hole; or taproom.

Funny how words can have so many meanings.

Over fifty years ago Dear Grandmother in Toronto asked a policeman if he could direct us to where she could find a ‘canteen’, meaning a container to hold water.
I was playing soldier and needed a canteen to complete my 'kit'.

He directed us to an eatery known then as the Honey Dew, a popular fast food restaurant of the time.

I love it.

Anyway, three of us visited our ‘local’ last Monday night.

Dear Wife was at an aerobic swim class.

People smoke at the ‘local’ and Dear Wife has a problem with that – something to do with headaches, a cough, stuff like that.
Smokers don’t mind if their habit causes such to happen to other folks around them.

But enough of that.

I put up with it on occasional Monday nights.
The fellowship is good and it is a ‘guys’ night out’.

We ‘feasted’ on lively conversation; wholesome, low-cost food; and very reasonably priced adult beverages.

Wait staff is personable, efficient, and welcoming.
We met folks we knew there.

We were comfortable; unhurried. We were made welcome.
News of families: news of births; of deaths; of jobs found and jobs lost; of vacations taken; of goingson at churches, etc., are all given equal air time.
Congratulations and sympathies are exchanged.

A community is maintained.

There is a 50-50 drawing: participants chip in $$ for raffle tickets. At a particular time, a drawing is made and the winner gets half the accumulated money. The other half goes to the house.

Good fun. Small town.

This was the first time since last spring that we had convened the Monday night group.
Our trips North make it hard to visit the local on a regular basis during late spring to early fall.
We play a lot Up North and enough is enough. When we are ‘downstate’ we tend to eat our less and do a few more chores than normal.

But now the ‘night out’ part of the ‘downstate’ routine has resumed.

Bottom line, I think the nicest thing about our local is the welcome that is extended to such a wide variety of people:
There are the Boy Scouts; Veterans; students; the handicapped; children at Halloween and Christmas parties; family picnics; car shows; travel opportunities; families which have lost loved ones; and on and on.

Our city, our nation, our world, could use more locals.