Thirty years ago someone in the front of the hotshot bus yells out, "Does that say Free Beer?"
He was referring to one of those big signs on the big hotels as you enter town. We were coming back at the end of the day from working on a Forest Service trail over-looking Santa Diego Pueblo. Sure enough is said, "Free Beer, Thursday 5-7". It was Thursday and we got off at five.
We thought about car-pooling, because there would be no place to park, right? The parking lot at the hotel had plenty of cars but not so many we could not find places to park. There were a lot of people in the hotel-bar, but the typical number for a week-day afternoon where people were stopping for a cold one after work. We crowded into an empty booth. What there wasn't plenty of, was waitresses. So being the take charge kind of guy I am. I stomped down the steps in my dusty boots and dirty work clothes and ordered, "A vodka Collins with a double twist and seven free beers."
Barkeep said, "Coming right up."
There were three people sitting in the bar and they said in this order, "They have free beer here?", "Yeah." and "It's Schlitz."
The last speaker didn't say it in disgust, but in was in a judgmental enough tone of voice that the other two nodded in understanding and agreement.
They weren't big glasses, but they were a cup (literally; small transparent plastic cup) of ice-cold, free beer. We went back to the bartender for round after round of free beer until was time to go home or time to go eat dinner. The hotel never did it again as far as we could tell.
Here's my thought after all these years. My boss drank a Vodka Collins with a double twist? And he did it so often I still remember his drink after all these years? Back then people drank Tom Collins! And a double twist?
He was referring to one of those big signs on the big hotels as you enter town. We were coming back at the end of the day from working on a Forest Service trail over-looking Santa Diego Pueblo. Sure enough is said, "Free Beer, Thursday 5-7". It was Thursday and we got off at five.
We thought about car-pooling, because there would be no place to park, right? The parking lot at the hotel had plenty of cars but not so many we could not find places to park. There were a lot of people in the hotel-bar, but the typical number for a week-day afternoon where people were stopping for a cold one after work. We crowded into an empty booth. What there wasn't plenty of, was waitresses. So being the take charge kind of guy I am. I stomped down the steps in my dusty boots and dirty work clothes and ordered, "A vodka Collins with a double twist and seven free beers."
Barkeep said, "Coming right up."
There were three people sitting in the bar and they said in this order, "They have free beer here?", "Yeah." and "It's Schlitz."
The last speaker didn't say it in disgust, but in was in a judgmental enough tone of voice that the other two nodded in understanding and agreement.
They weren't big glasses, but they were a cup (literally; small transparent plastic cup) of ice-cold, free beer. We went back to the bartender for round after round of free beer until was time to go home or time to go eat dinner. The hotel never did it again as far as we could tell.
Here's my thought after all these years. My boss drank a Vodka Collins with a double twist? And he did it so often I still remember his drink after all these years? Back then people drank Tom Collins! And a double twist?
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