[ WP ] - Throughout a day at different times 3 unique customers visit a bar , all talking with the same barkeeper . As the last one leaves the barkeeper realizes ...

Anthony was smiling. His shift as a bartender was going well, and the time was flying by. It was an average night, enough customers to keep him busy. He was a social man, always smiling and laughing. In his opinion, the people he met were the reason why he stuck around in this dusty bar on a quiet street. He was just settling in to his shift when a young man approached the bar. He wore khakis, a button down shirt and tie, and shoes that shined and squeaked as he sauntered to a seat. Anthony greeted him, and as he made a drink they chatted about the weather and other subjects that are easy to discuss. The man filled Anthony in on his new job, somewhere low down on the corporate food chain of a large, bland company. `` Yeah, the pay is n't great, but the work's not bad. It's a start.'' said the young man. He looked happy, his eyes shined. He drank only a little, then left. Tipping very well, and walking with confidence out of the door into the dark street. About an hour later, another man appeared who stood out from the blur of people. He was a middle-aged man, and he walked as though he carried a weight on his shoulders and under his eyes. His hair was greying, spread out thinly over his skull. He talked reservedly with Anthony about his job, an official sounding position in a bland sounding company. `` It's not too much work for me, and my family depends on the paycheck.'' The man said this as if he had accepted it as a sad truth. He paid after only a couple drinks, left a fair tip, and shuffled out the door. As the bar neared close, and the streetlights flickered, an older man, wandered into the bar. He greeted Anthony, took his drink and drank quietly, not an angry man, simply did n't seem to feel the need to socialize. He spoke with Anthony of his recent retirement, how he ended his career in the same company he started, with a nice amount of money to accompany him. He did not speak of the money proudly, almost as if it were a consequence of his job, not a reward. He spoke of his divorce, and his children, who he no longer saw, and his big, empty home. He looked lonely, regretful. Anthony asked the man what his biggest regret was. The man simply said, `` Did a man come in her earlier, a young man?'' The old man proceeded to describe the man who had come in earlier, and as he spoke Anthony began to notice more and more similarities between the appearances of the young man and the old man. `` Yes,'' said the old man as he sipped his drink. `` I remember him. He was happy, was n't he?'' Anthony watched in confusion as the man finished up his last drink, and wandered out the door.
