A Word Concerning Journey

Some bars sit out on beaches and serve up drinks amidst a jungle of tiki, and some sit atop skyscrapers offering up views from on high.  There are resort bars, bars on cruise ships, and even a bar in the lobby of a hotel made exclusively of ice.  But if you don’t find yourself working at any of these destination bars, and the bar where you work happens to have a jukebox, you’re going to have to face a hard truth.  Drunk people like to listen to Journey.  They like to listen to Journey a lot.  Repeatedly.  Over and over again.  So don’t panic when after the umpteenth time of hearing Journey late one night, you find yourself wanting to reach for shards of broken glassware to jam into both of your ears.  It would cause you to lose your hearing, but provide a lifetime of escape from that power ballad anthem “Don’t Stop Believin’.”  All hope is not lost.  Just most of it.

If you’re lucky, you can successfully block it out and focus on making drinks, chatting up customers, or complaining to fellow bartenders.  But realize that Journey has a power over people.  One minute they’ll be ordering drinks; the next singing on top of the bar.  You’ll have to develop a detached smile of recognition to the fact they’re having the night of their lives while also realizing they clearly don’t get out much.  There will always be a place deep down inside where you’ll shudder and briefly spasm when the words ‘Just a small town girl, living in a lonely world’ hit your ears.  Just block it out and keep moving with purpose behind the bar.  And when you find yourself fantasizing about that midnight train going anywhere, derailing somewhere over the Grand Canyon, just think about all those tips you’ll be making off a busy bar.  Journey and their collection of hits represent a test of your will, fortitude, and endurance.  If you stay focused with the task at hand, you will persevere!