I worked in the bar industry many years, and met some really interesting characters. I thought it might be fun to post some here. If anyone else is moved to mention some characters they have encountered, please do and maybe we can fill a virtual bar.

Names may or may not have been changed to protect the innocent.

Mike was an African-American who lived in the neighborhood who used to walk into the bar everyday around the same time, early in the afternoon. He was early 30's, rather heavy, and unemployed. We knew little about him, except that he still lived with his mom and was very close to her. He was a very respectful and sweet natured guy, and probably collected a small income from the state as someone who was special needs.

He had very little money, of course, usually enough for 1 or 2 drafts. He was cleanly dressed, probably clothes put out by his mom, but whenever he stood up, his pants would drop enough that the bartender would have to remind him to pull up so the bar would not get a show of ass crack. His response was invariably polite and apologetic. Everyone liked him.

There was one other strange thing we could never figure out. There was an old style jukebox in the bar, and every day, Mike would insert several dollars. Seeing he had little money, this in itself was a little peculiar, but what was really unusual was that he only played one song, always the same: Gypsy Woman.

You got 4 song for a buck then, so if he put in 3 bucks, yeah, we all had to listen to gypsy woman 12 times. No bartender ever had the heart to reject the song. If there were more than a few customers, we'd just turn it down low. Mike would stand by the juke when we did that and quietly listen.

Did the song have a special significance? Or was it just that he didn't know how to use the jukebox and always put in the same numbers. We never could find out. Sometimes people would ask him, very gently, but he would just smile.

Ok, that's my first character. These are real characters, I hope someone here enjoys being introduced to them.