Raising the [Kid's at the] Bar

"Hi honey, would you like another!"

A pretty waitress asks one of the boys. I don't know if his eyes were popping out of his head at the size of the girl's chest or the size of the 24oz , filled-to-the rim glass of soda she was serving him. Not sure I care, but it was a rather goofy grin he shot her as he was being served. Makes you wonder...

Thursday night was game 7 of the NBA finals, Celtics vs. Lakers. Does it get any better? No! Of course not! The lackluster Celts against a very talented and cunning Laker team promised to be a battle-royal that would go down to the wire.

Great game, Celtics lost, but I have NO complaints. Really.

But as great as the game experience was, there is NOTHING like being a Dad who takes his three sons 12 and two 10 years olds, to a smoke-filled bar filled to the brim with Celtic fans (in Phoenix? Who knew?!?) and small table of Laker fans (booo!) and lots and lots of less-than-sober fanatics who were chanting "Beat LA!" and "Lets Go Celtics!!" followed by three thunderclaps of either hand-clapping, stomping, or banging the table-tops waaay too hard.

It was awesome!! I gotta' say, having the boys come with me to a fully-packed local bar/pub (we weren't the only groups there who brought kids, btw) was a much better experience than I could have imagined. The boys first realized that their were many other people who acted like Dad does, yelling at the TV, criticising the refs, pumping fists into the air shouting out "oh, C'mon!!" (among other colorful exclamations) at the television when your team doesn't win.

They got all caught up in it, for sure. Yelling at the refs, high-fiving perfect strangers, fist bumping great plays, temporary mind-loss at referee calls that don't go your team's way. The thrill of victory. The agony of defeat. For about $50 we had appetizers, giant hogies and perfectly golden steak fries and enough soda to gas up a herd of elephants.

In the aftermath of that evening, I realized I demystified some things for the boys and shined a light on some things I know they have been curious about. What's it like to be in a bar for a big game? Check. Can people get along even though they are rooting for opposing teams? Yes. Do alcoholics really make a fool of themselves out in a public place? Fo' sho!

I believe it was a great experience for my boys and while I can only hope that the boy's fondest memory was of watching the game at the pub and not at the depth of cleavage shown every time the waitress leaned over to refresh our drinks, regardless, I am convinced at least of this; they went to sleep with a smile on their face.

Any experience that can do that can't be all bad.
Go Celtics!