Mondays with Mike: Sean’s last night in town

Regular readers know that Hackney’s is our local pub. We’re there enough that Ulrich Sandmeyer, of Sandmeyer’s Bookstore halfway down the street between our condo and Hack’s, calls it Beth’s office.

Where everybody knows our name.

It’s a luxury of sorts to finish up a day of work and have a friendly place just a block away. Apart from the food and libations, one of the great things about having a local is that Cheers culture of people who know you, put up with you, stand by you, and are just there when you need to see some familiar faces. (Better yet than Cheers at capturing what can be good about a local is a book called The Tender Bar, by J.R. Moehringer.)

One thing that’s been especially gratifying is getting to know the staff. For as long as we’ve been going to Hackney’s, we’ve seen a stream of college-age and post-college kids come and go. Lots have been students at Columbia College at one time or another, or at other downtown schools like Robert Morris or DePaul.

These kids work very hard. Most are either going to school and working at Hack’s or have a second or third job. They belie the stereotype of the coddled millennial.

Since Beth and I are wont to sit at the bar—even when we are eating—we tend to get to know the bartenders better than the servers—though they’re all of the same good lot. And it’s a helluva lot of fun to watch them grow up before our eyes.

There’s been Billy, who left for what he called a “big boy” job. He’s now married and has two painfully cute children. And Stephen, who landed enough videography gigs to make it a full-time deal. Lynda and Jean left for greener pastures. Sarah became the general manager.

And just last night, we bid adieu to Sean, who’s about to embark on the kind of adventure that everyone in their twenties ought to have. He’s taking whatever fits in his car and driving toward Washington state, where a friend has said “come on down, you can hang out here.”

It was something of an ironic curtain call. So many of his fans showed up that he had to work his tail off to keep up. But he managed, and a good time was had by all.

Like all of the good young people at Hack’s that move on, Sean will be missed. But not forgotten. And we hope to sit with him on our side of the bar at his local, wherever that is, in the not too distant future.