| A Toast to New Friends and Familiar Faces
(Did You Know? During last year’s Covid while our office was shut down, I sent daily emails of affirmation and felt that with Delta causing problems that another “Cheer” was in order. The following story is a metaphor for experiences many of us have had this year.)
The pandemic was ending. People were vaccinated, starting to go out again. I was meeting up with a friend, the first time either of us has seen each other face to face in over a year. I walked into the bar and felt a wave of excitement, looking at the people sitting together at the bar backed by a big mirror and rows of bottles; the long slab of varnished wood gleaming in the soft light with the bartender standing behind it; people dressed up, wearing nice clothes again. Sharing a laugh over a drink. It felt good to be out of the house. It felt good to finally be around other people. I walked up to the bar. The bartender came over and I ordered a scotch. A hand slapped me on the shoulder and I turned around and saw my buddy standing there. We shared a toast. “It’s great to see you in person again,” I told him.
Video calls were never my thing. It wasn’t the same experience, sharing a drink with someone over a computer screen with miles of distance between us. I was grateful to be back at an actual happy hour, the real thing, no substitute. And now, seeing my friend in front of me, I could tell that he looked older, a little more fatigued than I remembered. A few more lines around the eyes. It had been a tough year for all of us. Maybe I looked that way too, but it didn’t matter. It was good to see him smile, to sit here and listen to him talk.
We had a lot of catching up to do. We reminisced about old coworkers, new career paths, and some of our more reckless nights out on the town. A couple came over and sat down next to us, a man in a blue button-down and a woman wearing a black dress. My buddy bought them a round and we started up a conversation.
You could feel it in the air: Compassion, optimism. I looked at the tables and the people. Strangers talking to each other, celebrating. Beyond our little group, the door to the bar swung open now and then and more people would trickle in. I could see how happy they were, the smiles on their faces as they looked around the room.
This is how we move forward, I thought. One step at a time. It was going to be all right.
-David Clough, Whisky Advocate magazine |
