“You’ve got a college degree? What are you doing here?” The question hung in the air for what felt like minutes but was only a second. “Sometimes, life doesn’t go as planned,” Alex replied, swirling the amber liquid in his glass. “I studied literature, always dreamed of becoming a man like my father, but here I am, sitting at a bar in a small town with years of my life wasted.”

A regular named John was the man that had asked this question. He leaned in closer to Alex responding with “What’s the story then? Why isn’t it that you’re out there chasing your dreams?”

Sighing in sadness, Alex responds with “I guess I just found something here that I couldn’t in the city. Maybe it’s just that I knew I couldn’t live up to my dads work, or maybe it’s the peace, inspiration, and simplicity I find here.” After a bit of silence Alex adds “Or it’s that every person who walks in here has a story of their own, and that alone, is worth more than any college degree.”