"Light Beer at Paddy's" by Leenish - 5.10.17

Entry Submitted by Leenish at 5:44 PM EDT on May 10, 2017

Hey Everybody! Did you hear the news? Paddy’s updated their menu and now has Light beer! Actually, they’ve been serving it awhile, but the Old Timers who’ve been sitting on their same stools for many years didn’t like it, so Paddy never advertised the Light. The Old Timers just wanted that old school, high proof, heavy lager beer. The higher the proof the better. They don’t want no airy-fairy light beer. They want as much proof as they can get.

When I first started coming to Paddy’s, I had to do the secret (secrete - haha) “Light” hand signal to Paddy to get my preferred brand, and every single time he gave a sidelong glance over at the Old Timers like he might get caught giving it to me, and then they would give him shit for even keeping something so “alien” in “their” bar. But you know what? He did it anyway. He knew there were Light Lovers out there, but he also understood why the Old Timers hung around. Paddy works hard to make it a safe place for all to share their burdens and their joys. He has made it like a home away from home. He understands that his customers have become his family, and he cares about all of them. He wants to do right by all of them.

Anyway, It wasn’t too long after I wandered in off the street and claimed a stool I began to notice others, more and more as time went on, giving that same secret “Light” hand signal. Pretty soon, we didn’t have to give the signal anymore and Light options were officially put on the menu! Wow! So many new and cherished friends I’m meeting here at Paddy’s! Light Lovers like me! Such great conversation! So much to learn! I know sometimes we bicker a little, like family often does. There may even be some name-calling and punches thrown, but as families go, I can’t imagine a better one to be a part of. Even the grumbling of the Old Timers now gets pretty much drowned out by the euphony of Light Lovers at Paddy’s.

And speaking of the Old Timers, you know what? It’s my opinion that they DO have the right to be here as much as the Light Lovers, despite their crankiness, because if it weren’t for them, Paddy’s may not have stayed in business. They were here a long time ago, buying lots of beer and keeping the place open in the early days when Paddy’s was first up and running. I don’t agree with many of them, but it’s not really my place to decide who gets the stools. Paddy is the only one who gets to decide if stools are to be taken away, but it seems to me like he just keeps buying more! This place doesn’t look very big from the outside, more like a quaint little pub, but once you come in… HOLY SHIT! The place is YUGE! There really is room for everyone, AND (more importantly) no one is strapped to their stool, either. We are all free to come and go as we please. It’s not up to us to decide who stays and who goes, it’s up to us to decide who we want to hang out with and then just stay on that side of the bar that is our preference. For Pete’s sake (or should I say for Paddy’s sake) it’s so incredibly easy, people! Why ask Paddy to do more work than he already does? Jeepers!

Of course all the Old Timers want to hang with other Old Timers who understand them, and of course Light Lovers are more comfortable with their “next of kin”, but it really is a public place, people. Paddy has made it that way and I admire his willingness to allow in all kinds, all colors, all flavors. It keeps it more than interesting, wouldn’t you say?

Someday, when you have more money than you know what to do with, you can build your own bar, with the rules and menus of your choosing, but I bet you will never have such a wide variety of patrons as Paddy has. Not even close! It will never be what Paddy has created. You are free to enjoy the magic that happens here, OR not even acknowledge it, but you will never be able to re-create it. Let’s all live and let live, shall we, and keep to our side of the bar without interference to those on the other side.

Thank you Paddy for this Family, for this Place, for this Opportunity to connect and to learn. Thank you for your varied menu. Thank you for EVERYTHING!

See you on the stoop, Y’all!

In Love and Light (beer),

Leenish

AKA: Eileen (Syracuse, NY, USA)