Last Call.....

I’m sure that this is not “Breaking News” from this site. It’s already been all over the media. I’ve seen and heard reports from “The Today Show”, MSNBC, The New York Times, and even AOL News. Eddie Doyle, the bartender at Cheers, has been laid off after 35 years!

You remember “Cheers” the TV show, maybe not first hand, but I’m sure at least in re-runs. It was the sitcom about the Boston bar “where everybody knows your name”. It ran for 10 years on NBC and started, saved or jump-started the carriers of Ted Danson, Rhea Perlman, George Wendt, Woody Harrelson, John Ratsenberger, Kelsey Grammer, Kristie Alley, and Shelly Long. Probably more than anything else it also gave bars a good name.

Well, and for most this isn’t news either, the TV show was based on an actual Boston bar, the “Bull and Finch Pub”, and that’s where Eddie Doyle has worked since 1974. It’s been said that Eddie was nothing like his TV counterpart, the womanizing bartender Sam Malone (Ted Danson), but the bar was a friendly place with a group of eccentric regulars. “It was a great mix of people,” Doyle said. “I could probably say goodnight to each one of them by name or face.”

The hard time economy finally hit the bar business, though, and Eddie and several others at the bar are now out of jobs. Eddie’s last day at the bar will be later this month, but, like many not so deserving corporate executives, he will be leaving with a nice package that will pay him until the end of the year. Good for you, Eddie, you certainly deserve it!

For me, though, another employment myth has been shattered. I always thought that bars and drinking were sacred. In good times, people went to their favorite bars to celebrate and be happy. In bad times, people still went to their favorite bars to commiserate with their buddies, drink and forget their troubles. The last time I was out of work, about 10 years ago, I even went to bartending school thinking I might start a new carrier. (I also got my real estate license, but that’s another bad move and story now.) Unfortunately, I wasn’t as cute as a lot of the other graduates, so it never became a full-time job, but I had some fun and learned to make some great drinks!

Anyway, what is this world coming to? I guess in this economy the only absolutely recession proof job may be Funeral Director. People can give up or cut back on their drinking, but, unfortunately, they haven’t figured out a way to cut back on the dying.