AJ's Hideaway

My clothes and hair smell like smoke as I sit in my church office. I smell this way because I went to a bar over lunch today. Yes, I am a minister and I went to a bar.

The US Open Golf Playoff was on between Tiger Woods and Rocco Mediate. It’s dubbed: David vs. Goliath. Maybe because Rocco is ranked 158th in the world, Tiger is first.

I admit, it felt odd to exchange the fresh air, sunshine, and blue skies of this Monday noon hour for the dimly lit, loud sounding establishment, yet I desperately wanted to catch the end of this tournament and I had no idea where else to go.

Inside the bar room was lined with blinking slot machines. Several bored and slow moving old people puffed their cigs and pushed the lighted buttons on the glowing screen before them, staring hypnotically. Over the speakers, Jimmy Buffet sang about some island where worries don’t plague anybody anymore. The golf match was on overhead so I sat down and ordered the special with a glass of…water. (Admit it; you thought I ordered something else)

The waitress was nice enough but told me I couldn’t have my Dutch Bros. coffee in the bar. I guess they have a “no coffee only liquor policy” I didn’t read on the door.

Two middle aged woman sat at the mostly empty bar visiting over tall glasses of beer. I glanced at the Miller Lite clock-- 12:30pm. They were happily chattering away, each of them listening intently to the other; laughing sporadically. I watched golf on the TV directly above them from where I sat.

A commercial break began and I guess I started to eavesdrop. I listened to the ladies tell the bartending woman that they were new to town. The bartender told them with glowing eyes and warm tones that they definitely needed to become a part of AJ’s Hideaway because everyone here on the weeknights are “regulars” and they are all “so nice and know everybody’s first name”. The emotion in her voice surprised me. She meant what she was saying.

The women seemed to be interested in what the bartender was saying. They shared that they were devoting the entire day to finding their “home bar” in Keizer. I have never heard the phrase “home bar” before and I had no idea people spent days searching for one.

They extolled the virtues of the bar they left in their previous town. It was such a ‘tight knit bar with people who really made you feel like family’. The food was good and the music was live on Fridays. As these ladies reminisced of their late bar—serious tone and all—they sounded like they spoke of the closest family unit imaginable.

The bartender lady answered all their questions and even gave them the menu to examine the bar’s variety of food and drink selection—it was all very salesman(woman) like. Except the product she was pitching was community-- the fact that you could come to AJ’s Hideaway and be known by others--recognized as a part of the group, a place you belonged. I felt like I was watching two women select a new family. I felt a bit left out.

I realized the pair of ladies was a mother and daughter. The daughter asked the bartender if there were any single men that came to the bar as “regulars.”

“Hell yes!” the bartender said.

“Do they have jobs? Cause most of the guys at our last bar didn’t have jobs or a driver’s license.” Those type guys are the hardest to find.”

“Yeah, we got all kinds here.”

One lady looked over my way. I sensed her eyes and for a moment I felt a bit awkward because I do have a driver’s license.

The feeling passed quickly and the golf started again.

I don’t know how to put a bow on this story. I struggle to process why I felt a bit jealous of those ladies when I left-- just being honest.

Here’s my question to you: Why would the ladies in that bar choose a church over AJ's Hideaway as a place to find a new family?

If you want to leave a comment, I’d appreciate it.