A Break in Routine

It was a quiet night at the bar.

“Hey, Bill. Is it still raining?”

“Yeah, it’s still raining.”

“Oh, man. It’s going to be a slow night, Bill.”

I think that’s the way Bill likes it.

Meet Bill. I have the pleasure of his company four nights a week. Every Wednesday through Saturday, he strolls through the door at 5:00 on the dot. He sits in his usual seat and I promptly serve his usual drink (Citron and soda with lime).

It’s his routine.

And now, his routine has become part of my routine. While these past few weeks have served as preparation for my next move, they have also provided me with lots of smiles and laughs – a result of the numerous stories Bill has told and the funny comments he has made. He’s a real riot.

Some nights, he throws me for a loop and wants his drink made with the Apple Jack whiskey he received as a gift and keeps at the bar. “I don’t drink at home,” he says.

I like when he orders this. I tell him, “It’s good to shake things up.” He laughs.

Tonight, however, he stuck to the Citron. So, we shook things up by taking pictures.

We had to do something to pass the time. After taking a picture of the clock, I took some of Bill sitting at the bar. He was a natural.

“Natalie, take one of the dinner special sign. Ha, you can barely see it with all the snow!”

“Ok, Bill.”

It was starting to clear up outside.

“Let’s look out the other window, Bill.”

And wouldn’t you know…

a perfect rainbow stretched across the sky.

Bill was impressed.

On most nights, he walks in at 5:00, sits down, has a drink, orders at ten after six, eats, and leaves by 7:00. On this night, he was up and out of his chair, peeking out the far window, and marveling over the unexpected rainbow.

Sometimes, a little break in our routine is refreshing. It was certainly fun to snap shots of the rainbow and see Bill call the others to the window.

The sunset to follow was spectacular.