Eddie Arana, Rick Thibodeau, & Chris Bakunas San Diego, Ca. March 2012

Eddie Arana, Rick Thibodeau, & Chris Bakunas San Diego, Ca. March 2012
Eddie Arana, Rick Thibodeau, & Chris Bakunas at Luche Libre Taco Shop in San Diego, March 2012

Friday, March 24, 2017

One Man's Destitution Is Another Man's Prosperity

He was dressed fairly well for a man sitting in a dumpy dive

His drink turning a lighter shade of cola as the ice melted

"Once, a long, long time ago," he started

"I was successful, had a chain of small print shops."

He took a long look at his drink after he said that

"Then small office printers got cheap, and business died." 

A quick sip of his drink and he continued

"Yeah, I had it made for awhile, a good long while."

Pause (for recollection or ?)

"Yep...a good run, for a good long time"

Again, a pause

"After I closed up the last of the shops 
                                                I thought I could retire."

Pause, with a listless stare into the distance 

"I had money put away, had made a few investments 
                                                I thought were solid."

Another sip of the diluted, now ice-less drink

"But then my wife, my now ex-wife, demanded a divorce...                                                      ...after 18 years, almost 19."

Pause, bites upper lip, drums his fingers on the bar

"Had to liquidate everything - she got half, lawyers cost                                                            a fortune...hell, I got...nothing."

Pause, and a full minute of listless staring into the distance

"Now I'm practically destitute. Had to take a job
                                                 as a mid-level manager."

Drains the last of his drink from the warm tumbler

"Live in a lower middle class neighborhood in an old
                                                 3 bedroom fixer upper"

Motions for the barkeep to come over

"Sure, I drive what people call a luxury SUV but it's
                                                 9 years old and worn out"

Barkeep brings another tumbler of scotch on the rocks

"Have to buy all my clothes off the rack, had to learn how
                                                 to iron 'em myself."

A swig off the fresh drink, a deep breath, then another swig

Stays silent for a long while, then inhales the last of the drink

Gets up off the barstool, pulls a twenty out of his wallet

Slaps it on the bar and says, "Hey, thanks for listening to me 
                                                  Just had to let loose."

As he walks out of the bar it occurs to me

That everything he listed that marks him as                                                                               "practically destitute"

Is everything I've worked my whole life to achieve






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