January 4: The Pool Boys

We were four girls a dive bar on a Friday night with a mixed array of drinks. They were boys at the pool table with beers on the counter. I was content where I was in the booth, but one of the girls wanted in on a game of pool. I was wary. I knew boys and their games. I was hard pressed to ever be let into a game of darts at this establishment with their crowd.

But don't tell that to Tay. Up she sauntered to that chalkboard and in a flurry of chalk dust added her name to the list. She came back to our table for all of a few minutes before a cheery lad approached us.

"Which one's Tay?" He asked it in such a friendly way I wanted to tell him to pull up a chair and join us.

"That's me," she smiled.

"You're up!" he said, and led the way back to the pool table.

I stole glances of them back there, and was more than a little surprised to see how nice him and his friends were being, and none of them seemed to be doing it for any sort of gain; no one seemed to be hitting on Tay or even just humoring her. They just seemed cool.

This should probably be expected behavior, but sometimes we should probably still take the time out to tell people when we appreciate those everyday niceties, which are what really matter in the end.