So, I purchased this run down bar for a reasonable price, a bit of work needed, a designers challenge, but I must say the designer rose to the challenge and I was very satisfied with the results.
Now for the hiring, I figured the most important person in a bar was the bar manager, the quarterback of the team so to speak, so I sent out enquiries and was rewarded with 86 resumes.
My eyes glazed over reading the resumes each a carbon copy of itself, I resorted to vodka, which didn’t help the cause, but my word, one resume did eventually stand out, a member of Alcoholics Anonymous, and a degree in philosophy to boot.
So in stepped Fred for an interview, tall at 6’4”, long grey hair tied in a ponytail at the nape of his neck with a hoop dangling from his left ear, an interesting background, a portfolio manager for a major investment company, liked to party, succumbed to alcohol, lost his job, lost his wife and children, lost his house and ended up on the streets.
His resume recorded his work history to 2011 and then nothing, so I asked the obvious question, what have you been doing for the last 15 years, and he was very honest, he bought a tent, lived under a railway arch, spent his remaining money on alcohol, fell into despair, and then received his Damascus moment in the form of a young woman from a Christian outreach program.
A group from a local community church were engaged in outreach tending to the homeless, and a fervent young woman of 20, Kayleigh, visited him every day with a cup of coffee and a sandwich continually repeating Jesus loves you, you know Jesus loves you, and finally the penny dropped and he believed, joined Alcoholics Anonymous and decided to move forward with his life, and he looked sincere enough so I took a chance and hired him.
Interesting. Hopefully he won’t try pesuading people not to drink!
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Perish the thought, that would be blasphemy.
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Redemption… who are we to say one cannot earn it? Easier said than done from both ends but still…
Excellent Six, Len.
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Thanks, Nick. The homeless issue is a scourge on Western governments. Governments waste billions and yet have only made feeble attempts to solve this issue.
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Love your use of the prompt word, Len. Rarely do you hear it used in that context anymore.
Your story reminds us even those who feel no hope are not always hopeless.
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I think my context for using ‘word’ is an old fashioned English thing, and yes the homeless have many different stories to tell.
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Beautifully told. I am glad you hired him.
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Thank you, Frank, so am I.
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Loved this, every word.
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You are too kind, Misky. Can anyone be too kind? Come to think of it it’s a weird expression.
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Not kindness, just my truth. I really enjoyed reading it.
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nice joint…
first things first: where in your establishment is the table with the least visibility to incoming customers that also affords a view of the important parts of the place?
keep up the descriptive work, this surely will be fun
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I’m going to have to think on that one, Clark. I’m reminded of Strider (Aragon) sitting with his face concealed in the tavern in Lord of the Rings.
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Oh. Loved this a lot! And a philosophy degree!!! Ooh. Hopefully he will be able to prove that people do crawl out if such holes…
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I’m sure Fred will share his experience of life with his customers.
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Good choice! He’ll have seen it all and learned to do the steps…
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Very true. Nothing like life’s experiences to put you on, hopefully, the right path.
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A philosophy degree and he went into being a portfolio manager, that’s what you have to do, I guess, to make a living with a philosophy degree. I’m very glad he’s hired, may he have a long and illustrious and sober career at The Wily Trout.
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Time will tell, Mimi. One day at a time.
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