The List

"Why I Keep Playing Music"
- Reason #232

Sometimes,
a man will approach
me in Minnesota after a show.

A big, burly, man, with
a mustache and a leather jacket
that smells like a fast motorcycle.

This man will look me in the eye and tell me,
"thank you so much for the show tonight"

thank you, man, no problem, I had a lot of fun.

"no, you don't understand, you don't understand,
you don't understand how important it is, how much
it means to the people around here."

wow, thank you, very much, seriously....

"just for everyone in this bar, to be able to laugh,
and just forget about everything else for a while.
You really put on a show, man...."

blush.

I swear, at that moment,
I thought I saw tears in his eyes.

The most manly tears I have ever seen.

The next day I was talking to owner
over a delicious breakfast,
and I told him about the motorcycle man.

"oh..."
he says.

"well, that's really something...
his dad just passed away a few days ago."

He went on to tell me that all week,
folks at the bar had been asking about his dad,
trying to talk about it and make him feel better.

The night of the show,
he just sat at his bar stool
and laughed.

It gave me tears in my eyes,

Manly tears.

-p