I was washing glasses behind the bar some 40-odd years ago when a regular customer walked on up to order a drink. I knew her, and her situation, so I searched her face when she leaned in to tell me what she wanted.

And I saw what I was looking for. A small bruise mark on her left cheek. She tried to hide the damage with makeup but missed a spot.

“You missed right here,” I said, showing her where by touching the side of my own face.

She looked at me for a second, glanced in the back bar mirror and then back at me.

“Is it noticeable?”

“Not that much,” I replied.

“Cool, I’ll have a rum and Coke, please.”

When you’ve stood behind a bar for as long as I have, you learn things about life. And one of the things you learn pretty quickly is that people can adapt to any situation and start calling it normal.

The girl I........

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