by qhml1
Familiar theme. No surprises but this is teritory worth revisiting. Darn easy & obliquely humorous read.
....Mostly I went back to bar tending because I needed something to do. My wife of twenty one years had died in an industrial accident.
........"I got a second chance with you," I said "This picture reminds me not to make the same mistakes."
.....???????
I have seen it many times. I have witnessed five or six all shaking their heads at the same time when the phone would ring. Like it was going to keep them out of trouble when they went home. If you are not at home...you are not at home.
to keep the mistakes to zero or a bare minimum. TK U MLJ LV NV
Short and to the point. Maybe the line about his second wife could have had a little more intro but it didn't take much away from a very good piece of work.
Thanks and please more bartender stories. I used to tend bar way back in the stone age and it's like revisiting my youth.
Woodmanone
...(saw it in another comment) and I agree: a bit confusing and needs explaining.
It could be explained with an expansion of the story, I'm sure. But I am also sure it would add nothing to the story.
It's the right length for what it is. It feels complete to me.
I, for one, have forgiven a little error(?) like that before I even acknowledged it. The power of this story is in the moral tale. If your focused on the detail then have you seen the overall message?
In an attempt to reconcile the point anyway, I read it again. Here's my take:
Sure, he says his wife died in an accident, which is past-tense. Then, at the end, he looks at the photo of his first wife and explains why he kept it, as the reason he kept it is relevant to the story.
It then follows that there is no need for him to now dispose of it. He loved her and lost her through his own actions. He probably has it right next to a picture of his second wife, just not mentioned as it's not relevant.
After that, he talks about the reasons he gave to his second wife for keeping it, which she accepted, and made use of, but again, all of that is in the past tense. There you go, it works.
5 stars for a quality story. Heart-rending. If the idiot didn't head straight home to his wife and pay her some overdue attention after that, he gets what he deserves.
Continuity error and old hat are not relevant to this beautiful story of Buck.
Good humor in this tale with a lesson for all! Well painted, QHML1. Dan
....and my wife! I had to read this to her, our son in law is a bartender and we wondered whether he sees many bar flies like the sad fellow, 'Buck', in this one. We all know a 'Buck', there is one in almost every town. We see him sitting at every bar.
Thankfully, I've never been a drinker, my wife never had to go anywhere without me so now we've been married 36 years. But we both know more than one 'Buck' in our little town of less than 500 people.
He might even deserve another chance - having learned - but that does not mean she should give it to him. He might have to find someone new to prove himself to.
We make our own beds so often and then find we do not like what we built - some of us of find ourselves like the wife with no bed so we go find a better one - good luck to all.
Q, terrific story, concise and sharp to the point.
Now, if you took this story and reversed the dialog by the sex of your characters this story would be in the Loving Wives genre.
It is an experiment I have conducting with various author's stories. My hypothesis is that the authors for LW stories are subconsciously fulfilling the expectations of the majority of the LW readers, who are older, bitter men who justify themselves as the victims of feminine whiles and treachery.
The fact is, in Real Life the majority of adulterers and abusers and sexual predators are male. But you would never know that from the LW commentary.
Well written and point taken as of course all yours are.
Ed Grocott
edgrocott@gmail.com
Go ahead and Divorce the bitch. She could have talked to him first, rather than move out and start screwing co-workers!!!
Its a good story but I do agree that it sounds like she didn't sit down and have the tough talk with the guy. Instead, she just decided she was going to leave and be done with it. I hope in the divorce he doesn't have to pay to support her new life style. If that is the case then I would just up and disappear and let her have the cops or whomever try and find me.
Interesting story, can't really identify with the rather be with the guy thing. I can identify with neglecting the wife though. My first marriage I got into racing cars. It was the most important thing. Couldn't wait till Saturday to go around in circles for maybe 10 minutes. Spent everynight in the garage till 9pm one winter rebuilding a race car for the next season. A few years later she left me with the two girls and married a guy I raced with, go figure. True story. Pay attention to your wife, happy wife happy life. Guess we all gotta have priorities. Good story but sad and true......................
As always the story line is simple and easy to follow. Beautifully written and very much more complete. Definitely a 5 star ✨🌟✨🌟✨🌟✨🌟✨🌟 ratings. Thank you for your story.
Ali Singapore
Don't get married in the first place. People don't change. If she wants a divorce, give her a divorce. It's cheaper without her. Sell the house, buy a condo that requires zero work, hire a housekeeper and STILL have extra money to buy a boat, golf and play poker. Who needs a damn woman and a bunch of snotty kids???
Several years ago I was working in this little town just outside of Portland Oregon and frequented a little neighborhood bar a couple blocks from the motel where I was staying. The name of that bar was called
"HE'S NOT HERE". Guess how they answered their phone?
Short, sweet and simple. 5*
Though I do have to wonder how many brain dead motherfuckers are lurking here. Dump her ass if she bitches because you are totally ignoring and dissing her?
Who needs a woman and a bunch of snotty kids?
Loads of evolutionary dead ends here. Darwin would have had a field day.
Brain dead Republican commenters! Idiots, if you ignore your spouse they will start looking for a new spouse!
The democrat below is upset because he lost his meal ticket husband the same way, lol.
Great little story. I really love these when they are well done and this one is.
Nicely written short story that delivers its message. Like it like it a lot. BardnotBard
Brilliant. One of the best stories I've seen here. Amazing how some writers can make an excellent story with a tenth of the words that other writers use with much less effect. Thanks for this effort and please do some more bartender stories and Pearls of Wisdom...