Its Not As Bad As It Looks....

A common man’s claim to fame or a stage when he reaches stardom is when he finally finds his ‘Third Space’ and falls in love with it. It could be a cosy corner at Starbucks, a bench at the sea side café or  just a dark space to unwind with a ‘joint’ listening to Metallica….. A space beyond  office and home which feels like an extension of your front porch!

                                                                                                                                               Let me describe what my 'Third Space' was like.....
 Just like every day, you finish work and walk across the street only to see a long queue. And just when you decide to turn away, the bouncer at the door shouts your

name, breaks the crowd and lets you in.

As you approach the bar- the cute bar tender flashes her dimples the moment she sees you and a pitcher gets placed by default….And that’s the point in life when a common man like me takes a sip and says….”I Have Arrived”

Such were the hay days of my life. My Third Space was called ‘Charlie and Barneys’, a bar right next to work where we met every single night. It was a place that taught me how to drink silly and fearlessly hit on women (not that I got any ). It also gave me my first & only preview to a wet T-shirt contest and a place where I sang my first karaoke with the Hooter girls…

Going to Charlie and Barneys was almost felt like going to college; only difference being you could put things you learn't in to practice!

I did sometimes feel that we only went to work so that we could later go to the bar. Dressed in suits & ties, people often mistook us of being from a law firm or tipsy investment bankers . So every night, we the ‘Hoteliers’ chose our Alter Ego…. And after a few pitchers down, we could be What Ever We Wanted To….

Reaching home early & sober was never an option! And walking back home always turned in to a treasure hunt. Waking up the homeless, ringing doorbell of friends and running away were all a part of the process of reaching home! The neon road signs, shopping trolleys from parking lot, mannequins outside clubs- somehow became part of my prized possession.

  

Occasionally, when you did try to get home at a civilized time and hailed a cab, the driver instead of asking directions, would turn towards you and ask worriedly, ‘what happened to you, going home so early?" I don’t recall if it was a feeling of shame or guilt but on such occasions I did think, ‘I am better off tied to the bar’!

What’s interesting is that we the ‘humans’ really need this Third Space in our lives, and we’ve needed it for practically our whole existence. It’s something that you wouldn’t really know you need it, until you have it.

P.s. I hear Charlie & Barney’s closed its doors few years ago…