[Fredslist] He Drinks Alone

[Fred Klein]

Last week we went to a local restaurant for dinner and as we were about to leave I spied someone alone at the bar who looked familiar and Fred being Fred, I approached him and it was a Golden Boy of my youth. A three sport Star in Football, Basketball and Baseball who lived down the block from my wife Joanne. For the sake of this story I will refer to him as GB. Gb was a few years younger than me, but one could not help but be aware of his exploits. Over 40 years have passed and we both still live in the town of our youth. I asked GB how he was doing and he related a tale of sorrow and woe which was vaguely familiar and it struck me that my son David had encountered him in the same place in the same circumstance about a year ago. Passing his unfortunate plight the thing that struck me so hard is that in these two instances he was drinking alone and fred being Fred, I asked him about it and he responded that it is his regular tuesday and thursday night practice.                He drinks alone at a bar.  He drinks alone as a regular practice. I for one can not fathom this. Is he an alcoholic?  Is drinking alone a symptom of something else. What does it mean when someone drinks alone. Do any of you drink alone. It is just so stark and sad to me. Am I alone in this feeling?
Sent via BlackBerry from EarthLink Wireless.