I’m participating in an evolving venture called The Pubcast, described more specifically as a podcast that takes place in a pub (Donum Dei Brewstillery off Grant Line Road in New Albany).
We’ll be doing our first “live” pubcast at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, 16 March — Day 1 of Donum Dei’s St. Patrick’s weekend celebration. The public is welcomed to flood the joint.
First, let’s begin in the beginning, all those years ago, by ignoring my burgeoning affinity for bars even prior to turning 21, and focus instead on a central reason why bars – taverns, pubs, watering holes and the like – became my favored habitat once I was of legal age, and was at long last unconcerned with being snagged in an alcohol police dragnet, thus being able to enjoy what I was drinking, and with whom I was speaking.
Yes, I’ve always enjoyed barroom conversations.
You’d start chatting with someone you didn’t know, and it might be fascinating, or not. Most often I learned something. By and large, I respected my elders, so whenever there was an opportunity to stand by as “pensioners” talked about their lives and times, I did my best to pay attention.
By extension, a consistent annoyance of mine through the ages has been barroom music played at such deafening volume that I cannot engage in conversation. It’s one reason I’ve cherished the art of day drinking and those quiet, timeless afternoons spent solving the world’s problems over beers, and maybe a cheeseburger.
As a recovering philosophy major, the aspect of bar chat that appealed to me the most was (and remains) the fact that diverse opinions invariably come from unexpected places. Some folks could be easily typecast, although fewer than you might expect. I did a great deal of sandbagging, refraining from leading with my hottest take, and instead, asking questions – and listening.
What a concept, this listening.
Granted, I could be strident given the topic and my own blood alcohol level. Consequently, at this precise moment lots of people are looking at me and saying, really Rog?
Or, “I remember that time when …”
Yes, of course. Those agitated times surely happened. However, you probably don’t remember the many other times when conversational strategies like framing the discussion, playing devil’s advocate, and finding ways to agree about what we could agree about were my primary objective, not slam-dunking on an intoxicated retiree spinning harmless yarns.
The Pubcast, which to me seems...Read more
