Bill got up to pee

Many years ago, we hung out in the bar that I had worked at throughout university. It was a crossroads kinda place in a crossroads kinda location at a crossroads kinda time of my life.

Once or twice a week, we’d convene with a delightfully motley crew of musicians, grad students, bartenders, interns, and executives. We’d sling back pitchers of beer (or spritzers in my case), suck on saucy chicken wings and debate “–isms” or the Canadian music scene.

If it happened to be on a “school” night, my now-husband Greg and I would agree ahead of time that THIS time, we’d leave by midnight.

And then 12 would come faster than we’d hoped and someone would ask the seminal question::

Another round?

One of our friends, let’s call him Bill, would witness the silent debate passing between Greg’s and my eyes.

But we have so far to go home. Just one more. No, we have to get up early to go to work. I can't handle that place on no sleep. Well, maybe just a cigarette more. I don't know...

Guys, Bill would say. I get up at 4 o’clock. Stay for one more round.

And begrudgingly (but in truth? gleefully) we would stay. And the next week. And the next week and then the week after that.

Until finally, Greg (or I…too many spritzers to recall) asked Bill the Music Exec why he needed to get up so early.

I get up to pee at 4, then I go back to bed.

{I'm pretty sure we toasted his cleverness with another round of drinks and wings.}

Point is...

We hear what we want to hear, my friends. We hear what we want to hear.

And

People tell us what we want to hear.

I believe it's called marketing.

Learning the whole story, doing the due diligence rests with us. If we choose to, that is.

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