According to my west coast brother today is National Dive Bar Day. I'm not sure if that refers to a bar for deep sea divers or a 'dive bar' in the old fashioned sense of being a sleazy hang out.  Now I am not a deep sea diver but I do know a little something about sleazy bars.

Once upon a time, when I was 22, I traveled to upstate New York to start a new teaching position.  After finding an apartment I realized that I was running low on money and, six weeks 'til school started, needed to find a job.  I answered an ad "Wanted, attractive bar maid. No experience necessary."  Back then they could get away with ads like that.  So wrong on so many levels, but that was then and I was somewhat attractive and certainly had no experience so it seemed like a good chance.  I got the job, plus a suggestion from the little old man who owned the bar, that I might like to spend the winter in Florida with him.  I was vague but did not tell him that I would only be there for six weeks, until school started.  I really needed the job. Turns out the bar was only open in the summers, during tourist season.  This was in the Catskills, a popular resort area.  Now, I wouldn't say it was actually sleazy.  It was dark, but clean, and mostly great jazz played from the Juke Box.  It certainly wasn't a ritzy place though.  The clientele was almost one hundred percent the workers in the resort hotels.  They would come in on Friday nights, have the owner cash their pay checks, drink well and tip well,  During the rest of the week they still came in to drink after work but the tips dwindled as the week went on.  Lucky for me it was an easy bar to work in; we only served straight shots and chasers, so no mixed drinks for me to learn to make.  However, there was one woman who came in who drank rum and milk.  That much I could mix.  There was always a carton of milk in the frig because she was a regular.   I quit a few days before school started, transformed back into my teacher persona.  One nice surprise, the custodian who came in to clean my classroom after the first day of school turned out to have been a regular at the bar.  He thought it was hilarious.  I was happy to see a friendly face.