Bar Mentality

When I was a youngster my mother and her new man (unofficial step-father) loved to "Go on a drive", the five of us kids (from a variety of pairings ) thought this would include a swim and some frolicking in a park or along a lakeshore...we were excited. Invariably a stop for a drink, a country bar, would come into play. I, being the oldest, was assigned the task of 'keeping the peace" in a hot station wagon amongst the five of us. Kids were never allowed in these drinking establishments. It was never easy and it often left us thinking that we didn't like each other's company. One drink led to two drinks and often three while our guardians got involved in conversations that helped them lose track of time. When they returned to the big old station wagon, never less than an hour, we were feeling beastly and somewhat cheated out of a pleasant family afternoon. The parents were often a little toasted and arguing about some stupid conversation that took place in the saloon. It seems that everyone in the joint was complaining about, well everything...from fishing regulations to road construction to union dues. Drinking and smoking and conversing never made things better.