TLDR: go make friends and buy a round, regularly, for the old guys or gals at the local watering hole
We live about 3/4 of a mile from my wife’s childhood home (her parents still live in the same house). It is an upperclass suburb of Chicago—to give you an idea, we had a hard time finding a house because any house we could afford was bought by a contractor to tear down. We had to lowball the hell out of a wayyyy overpriced home to ever buy here.
There is a bar that is basically right in the middle of the walk between my inlaws and our houses. A dive bar. They let Milo the Great Pyrenees in because they don’t have any food service, and because Pete, the owner, has a Great Pyrenees, and Evan, the bartender, went to HS with my BIL and knows that I tip well—which also gets me free drinks. Way more than my tips.
My wife never wanted to go there because she’s from here, and just didn’t want to see folks from high school. I don’t blame her, and wouldn't have ever gone on my own... except that I play guitar. Poorly, but I play, and love to play and sing. Well, the local bar has an open mic every Sunday. I’ve been going for about a year now, and I probably play more John Prine then anybody who’s not named John Prine. That is slightly unusual for a 28-year-old. Turns out that one of the regular patrons went to high school with John Prine-he is a little bit older and didn’t know him well, but knew him.
Over the past year or so, I’ve come to know this regular. His name is Joe he lives in the same neighborhood as me, has a dog, And we have become pretty close friends.
Well, my wife is due with our first child in 2 weeks. Tonight, I went to the open mic. Joe was there and is soon as he saw me, he told the bartender that he will be back in five minutes. When Joe came back he had an instrument case in his hand. And as soon as I was done playing, he came up to me, and said “hey Mike, This is a gift for your baby.”
It was a cheap, half size, Fiddle from goodwill.
I cannot tell you how much this has meant to me, and there is no way I can tell Joe how much it meant to me, so just go find your local “Joe”, and buy him a drink and make a friend. Certainly way better money spent than on any stupid infant “necessities” like a pacifier sanitizer that I’m trying to figure out how it is easier to use than a pot of boiling water.
