Epiphany
By Jim Mollenkopf
June 05, 2008
It was a dozen or so years ago when I stopped at a bar in a college town south of here on a steamy, August afternoon and ordered a draft. The pub was in an old, brick building downtown with a high, pressed tin ceiling and sports memorabilia lining the walls. Through the open front door came the muffled sounds of traffic while daylight barely penetrated smoky, upper level windows into the dark and cool interior. With school out of session, I was the only customer.
The young woman working the bar hurriedly handed me the beer, barely making eye contact, and quickly turned away. I soon realized the reason for her distraction as her gaze was fixed on a big screen television showing the black and white film, "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. She went about her duties washing and stacking glasses, restocking the bar and even answering the phone and writing down a message, all the while her eyes never leaving the screen. It seemed the as the as the plot moved toward its finale and tension rose, the faster she worked.
I watched both the movie and her, marveling that someone could be completely absorbed in a film while performing tasks at the same time. I drank my beer and wondered if she might be experiencing the Edward Albee classic for the first time when suddenly she stopped working and stared at the screen for several seconds. She then whirled, locked her eyes onto mine and with an almost stunned look on her face gasped, "There never was a son, was there !?"
I shook my head no and she turned back toward the screen and continued to watch, no longer working now. It was time for me to get going and I Iaid some money on the bar, left her alone in her black and white world and went back out into the bright, hot afternoon.
She didn't see me leave. I'm not sure she knew I was ever there.
About the author:
I write and self-publish books on the topics of local history and nature.
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