This story was short just like the rest of them, but it told me so much about two random people I have never met, nor will I ever meet. I was engrossed in their little flashback, hoping everything would turn out ok for them even though they were speaking together, clearly in love. The subject of abortion is very touchy, but it’s not an easy decision to make in the first place. I cannot imagine how she must’ve felt when not only did she lose her love, but when she made the responsible decision to abort the fetus. Those kinds of decisions save lives. I’m happy he stayed by her side through the whole thing, and for him to come back and start fresh was something I haven’t seen or heard of often. The tenderness of this story was captured beautifully with the microphone. Hearing every little lip smack, smile, and swallow really hammered the intimate nature of the story.
At first I thought I was going to be depressed based on his description of bartending on New Year’s Eve. Something I never even thought of, the bartenders and their feelings on the holiday. It gave me a completely new perspective on the party. Not only how the bartenders feel, but the kinds of things they see that we don’t really pay attention to as customers. The depressed people, rejected dates, aimless individuals, it seems doubly sad to experience a night of happiness and new beginnings behind a bar, while witnessing the sad few who have nothing to celebrate. Thankfully the story took a hilarious turn when he began to talk about how a group of people left the ashes of their dead at the bar for 15 years. That seems so ridiculous, but I can’t help but believe it. I could honestly listen to him tell stories about the bar for hours, and hearing the little remarks and reactions from her made it feel so much more organic and natural.