Fond Memories of an Old Friend

When I started in this business it was supposed to be a part time job until I could get through college and move onto something which had more stability and paid the bills. I wouldn't have imagined seven years later I would have gone from assistant to my cousin to promotions manager on to bar back through bartender and manager in little bars to a manager for one of the biggest privately owned companies in the world.

Along that road I have met a lot of people. A lot. Some have mattered and done more for me than others. There have been class acts and a few less than reputable. There is one person who sticks with me the most though. Although I only worked with Jason for around a year he has had an immeasurable effect on my life. He was the Doug Coughlin to my Brian Flannigan. (More on the cocktail reference later...)

When I started at The Bar I was nothing more than a wet behind the ears kid looking to make a few extra bucks and get a little more experience so I could move to the neon light capital of Buffalo NY, Chippewa. I remember the first time I met Jason as if it were yesterday. I was 18 years old and a few days short of my nineteenth birthday. I arrived to my first day of work unsure of what I had gotten myself into. I met with the HR woman and was issued my uniform and badge. Jason walked into the "cube city" with a smile that could light up a room.

We were introduced and my nervous anxiety subsided into an unusual comfort. Jason looked me up and down and smiled.

"I think he'll be just fine." He said with what I would grow to know as his characteristic smirk. On the walk to the bank to get my drawer we talked. I explained that the most experience I had was anything and coke, shots of anything straight and whatever bottled beer I could find in the cooler. Jason just smiled. "We'll make a bartender out of you yet." I laughed anxiously and was sent to work. After a week of training (and catching on remarkably quick) I was scheduled to work with the senior bartender. Jason approached me that afternoon when I arrived to give me some advice.

"Don't let her walk all over you. Kay has a way of chewing new people up and spitting them out. “Jason paused for a moment "In fact, she hasn't let a new bartender leave without a verbal tongue lashing and tricking them into closing for her yet." I grimaced; scared about working with someone who would probably run circles around me. Jason let me know that if I survived he would be at Mamoser's in Hamburg and I'd rate a beer on him. He left and wished me good luck.

The night flew. Kay turned out to be a pretty cool chick. She was patient and calm. The end of the night came and went. We retired to the back of the building for a smoke and got to talking. I explained how nervous I was and how scared I was of catching a new ass hole. I remarked that Jason must have been pulling my chain.

"The hell he was man, I'm a bitch!" I just looked at her a blinked. "But for some reason I like you. Probably because you remind me of Jason." She smiled and slapped me on the back "Good game kid." I smiled.

"Thanks..." I said a little unsure how to take it. After I mopped I went to collect my bounty. There was an ice cold Blue Light with my name on it. Jason was admittedly astonished by my story and smiled when I told him what Kay said.

Months went by and Jason took me under his wing teaching me everything I (up to that point) know. I was thankful for the lessons. On the weekends I would drive to the Shamrock in Angola and eat the most amazing wings ever. Jason would be behind the bar holding court. There was something charismatic about him. There were very few people who didn't like him. During one of my many trips to the Shamrock I got to talking with Jason about my new favorite movie. Cocktail. Jason and I about it and within a week I had two copies in my mail box. One for me and one for Jason.

The day I gave it to him I remember a remark he made that day. It haunts me to this day.

"Enjoy pal!" I said tossing it to him. "I hope you choke on it." we both laughed

"I will Irish." Jason smiled.

"The movie kind of reminds me of you. You're like the Doug Coughlin to my Brian Flannigan, except you aren’t' lucky enough to be Irish."

"And I don't plan on meeting that fatal ending they have when the movie is over." We both laughed.

A few weeks later I woke up to my house phone and cell phone ringing off the hook. I was at Bada Bing for the tenth anniversary bash the night before and my head was about twelve sizes too big. I picked up with a fervor, noticing it was one of my friends.

"What the fuck do you want? I've got a hang over the size of the ages."

"Mac, I got some bad news." I sat up, my friend sounded pretty upset. "Jay got in a car wreck last night. he's in ECMC and they don't know if he's gonna make it." I ran to the bathroom and threw up. I remember crying and not much else. I don't remember showering or driving to work. The next thing I clearly remember is flying around the bar on over drive. It was a race night.

Work was a daze that day. At around eleven o'clock the General Manager and the Assistant GM came up to the bar. I knew it was over. Jason had died. We kicked everyone out and closed. We all piled into a couple of cars and proceeded to drink the night away.

I floated through life until the funeral. It was hard. I had seen kid's I went to school with die and watched family die. But this was different. I couldn't comprehend it. I watched everyone listlessly float through the next few weeks.

Jason and I were in the midst of planning a party for the bar when he died. I went to my manager and the GM and told them I still wanted to go through with it. I told them I would finish the plans, make the flyers and do everything else. We printed a poster of Jason and put it up that day. His whole family showed. It was the closure a lot of us needed.

There still isn't a day that goes by where I don't think of Jason. It's hard. I miss my friend and wonder what would have happened if he hadn't been in the accident. But these are questions I try not to think of. Better to remember the times I had with my friend than mourn the times I didn't.

Here's to you Jay, I'll be sure I have a Tanqueray for you. Cheers...

Until next time friends... Don’t drink anything I don't know how to make...

Mac The Bartender