where everybody knows your name

When Cheers was on the air I was not old enough to set foot in a bar but more so I was not old enough to know the true meaning of being “a regular.” The idea of being a regular anywhere never appealed to me because in my mind frequenting a place seemed routine which meant boring. Now that I am regular at several places (a bar, coffee shop and dangerously close to being a regular at a boutique) I can’t imagine my life without these establishments. At my local watering hole, I have become almost friends with some bar tenders. I say almost because the time we spend together is never outside of the bartender-bartendee dynamic but we are Facebook friends. Some regular customers I have engaged in long conversations with and some I’ve never spoken a word to (like the extra I once wrote about*). I love being a regular. Walking into to a place where the staff knows you by first name and you see the usual cast of characters feels like coming home and getting centered at the end of a long workday.

*The gray haired pony tail guy I once wrote about in the post titled "extras" I did finally talk to. He approached my friend and I and asked me about my car because he saw me drive up. He then introduced himself to us and I have been trying to remember his name since. I know. I am a terrible person because it turns out he still remembers my name.