Goodbye My Friend

I have a very good friend - almost too good of a friend.  This friend cannot wait for me to get home from work each day so we can get together to raise a ruckus.  This friend helps with the yardwork and watches football or soccer games with me.  This friend gets me in trouble and rarely bails me out (maybe this friend isn't such a good friend after all).  This friend is always there for me when I am sad, happy, mad, glad, nervous, or worried.  This friend is a good friend.

This is my friend

This friend is Beer.  Beer has been a good friend LONG before I was of legal drinking age.  Anyone who thinks that an underage person does not have a way to get beer is nuts!  I have older siblings which are good sources of beer because they also have a great incentive for not telling anyone that they bought you beer - the same parents.  Another easy source for beer once I got to college was upperclassmen of legal drinking age.  Offer to buy them a 6 pack and bingo - you have beer.

Actually where I went to college - the campus was dry.  What does this do to a school?  It drives drinking underground and makes it more fun for the students.  My college was in Richmond, Indiana which is a small city between 40,000 and 50,000 people.  The college was well known but also thought of as being a little different from Richmond because it was full of liberal kids wanting to learn how to learn.  Most of Richmond did not take advantage of having a college in their midst but Dan The Liquor Man did.

Dan's Liquor Mart from Google Earth Streetview

Dan The Liquor Man owed a liquor store about 1 mile west of the college campus.  Dan was a smart man and knew that he had a revolving and never ending customer base.  Dan also sold to underage drinkers but he was smart about it.  If you were under 21 years old, you couldn't just walk into Dan's store and buy beer - he would card you and throw you out.  There was a process to buying beer if you were under 21.  You had to come to Dan's store several times with an already approved buyer (someone over 21 or someone who had cleared the buying process).  Dan remembered faces and names very well.  Once he had seen you a few times, you were allowed to buy beer but this first time you had to be with your "approved" friend.  After that you were good to go.  One thing that we also noticed is that Dan NEVER rang you up if you were under 21.  He had an employee ring you up and take your money.  We also hypothesized that this is how he stayed in business - when the cops came it was his employee's fault for not carding the underaged drinker.  Or maybe he paid off the cops or the cops didn't care as long as the drinking stayed on campus?

Wow, that was a long tangent - time to get back to my friend, Beer.  Well as I told you above, Beer waits for me to get home everyday.  Where does beer wait?  Right in the garage refrigerator so I have to walk by my good friend Beer to get into the house.  If I don't say "hi" to Beer on my way in, I feel like a bad friend.

My Friends in the garage fridge

After I say "hi" to my first friend, Beer, his friend Beer #2 wants an introduction.  I say "hi" and that I will be right back.  Once my friend Beer runs out of gas and want to be recycled, I quickly go to meet my new friend Beer #2.  I say "hi" to Beer #2 and instantly his friend Beer #3 wants an introduction.  This cycle continues until I have dinner made and can no longer hang out with my friends named Beer as my focus changes to food, bedtimes, and sleep.

I have friends from other parts of the world and all over Colorado!

Friend from India

Friend from Colorado

I have friends that the Beer Fairy brings when she visits.  I even have other friends that volunteer to protect my friends from kidnapping by people without friends.

Friends that the Beer Fairy brings me

Friends that protect my Friends

So with all this friendship, I should be HAPPY!  I am happy when I am hanging out with the Beers.  The trouble is, too much fun with the Beers leads to a very crappy night sleep, tough sleepy day at work, depression from a lack of sleep and productivity, and an unhappy Cameron until I can play with my friends named Beer.  Well this is NOT good during a work week so what do I need to do to fix this.  I need to say "goodbye my friend".

Goodbye?  Really?  For those of you that know me are thinking that I must have lost my marbles.  Cameron say goodbye to his friends named Beer - no way.  Well, don't worry - I am not saying goodbye for good.  I am saying goodbye during the week but will visit with my Beer friends on Saturdays and potentially on Sundays if yardwork needs to be done or a good football game is on.

So - Beer friends, this is goodbye for now.  I will see you on the weekends but during the week you must leave me alone.  As the Spice Girls sang:

Goodbye my friend

(I know your going searching although I can still feel ya here)

It's not the end

(You gotta keep it strong before the pains turn into fears)

So glad we made it, time will never change it

no no no no

You know it's time to say goodbye

no no no no

And don't forget on me you can rely

no no no no

You know it's time to say goodbye

no no no no

And don't forget on me you can rely

no no no no

I will help you on your way

no no no no

I will help you everyday

no no no no

 *I may return to this blog from time to time for edits, additions, and improvements.  This is the type of blog that is ever evolving depending on my mood and creativity.