Forgive me Father, for I have sinned...

As I arrived last night Candy was leaving. Always nice to see her. She hands down wins "Best Smile at the Bar" award. We chit-chatted for a minute or two outside 1762. She had words of encouragement regarding this blog and also a couple of pearls of wisdom.

Once I went inside I saw Gin, who was covering for Shelly, and only two other patrons. One was Pregnant Lily, who as you may remember, both bartended and managed 1762 in the not-so-distant past. And her friend Peppermint Patti who I had met only once before, on her 30th birthday, which she chose to at least partially celebrate at 1762.

Apparently, Peppermint is Jewish and had celebrated the New Year the night before with her family. A touch of religious conversation started up about the absolution of sins to get into heaven. She tells us how she only has to apologize for her sins once a year and it is done by reciting a catch-all religious writing. The writing includes sins that have been committed "willingly and unwillingly". Well that's enough. You pretty much have all bases covered with that.

The Catholic version involves weekly visits to church to tell a priest your sins for the week. He gives you a penance. Could be 4 Our Fathers, 12 Hail Mary's, etc. Not so bad until you consider that the Catholic way involves verbalizing to the priest the actual sins committed. So they can go something like the following:

Forgive me father, for I have sinned. It has been (length of time) since my last confession. I blah blah blah'd my best friends girl. I blah blah blah'd an 8-ball while waiting outside my kids school.

I think that it would be interesting to explore here what a couple of popular culture figure's confessions might be.

• "Forgive me father, for I have sinned. It has been 5 years since my last confession. I know that is a long time but I've been kinda busy. I have sacrificed the lives of American soldiers in the name of a War on Terrorism. I played upon the vulnerable state of the American public's psyche following the 9/11 attacks. I have entrenched my country in a war that should have ended long ago, if ever entered at all. America's interests are purely Imperialistic, as we seek to spread our influence to the farthest reaches of the globe, in a quest to expand our own economic profits at the cost of the lives of those that are weaker, poorer, and not as important as me and my constituents. I have allowed the death of men, women, and children to occur so that the elitists of the United States can further secure their seats of power." - President Bush

• "I have disgraced the sport that has made me a handsome living. I have cheated and diminished the integrity of the sport of professional football. I have unwittingly told every child that puts on pads in a Pop Warner league that your parents and coaches have been lying to you. Winning, is in fact, everything. It is not about sportsmanship. It is about cheating your way to the top to secure your legacy in the NFL." - Bill Belichick , head coach of the New England Patriots

As the night moved on Gin found that she had a nice little crowd brewing. Some new faces. Dino and his brother hung around for awhile. Played some much appreciated classic rock. Beats that screamo shit I endured here last week.

Chucky dropped in after work. We had a good chat on kids and growing as men as we go through the process that is fatherhood. He sounds like a great Dad, involved and tuned in to his child. I recommend that any new fathers at 1762 spend some time with Chucky and get some real insight into what it means to be a Father.

The Owner came by. He was in an upbeat state of mind. New bartender is working out. Staffing issues under control. Full bar at 2AM. Nice.

Finally, as a point of interest, Gin picked up Friday nights. Nice kid, get down and see her.