Oakland, Sunday, Good Gigs

So this is what I came back for. Downtown Oakland in the rain, as seen from a bar stool at the Trappist, a Belgian beer bar where beer enthusiasts from around the Bay Area have just paid tribute to ex-Oakland Tribune reporter William Brand. Bill died a few weeks ago after being hit by a trolley in San Francisco as he was leaving a bar. He had just done one of his favorite things in the world - taste beers for his column What's On Tap.

I'm at the bar's front window trying to convince one of my friends not to leave her nice job although she might be getting laid off soon. I'm pouring the weight of my experiences over the past months into my attempt at persuasion. I'm telling her to learn from me, from my mistakes. Hold onto what you've got, although you might not be able to stand it right now. She says she's over it and it's time to hit the road, to try something new. I want so much to steer her clear of the confusion that being cut loose from your good gig brings on. But I see in her where I was a few weeks, months ago. I couldn't be talked out of it then either.

So I turn to the street and drink my brew. It's nice here, I think, this bar in the middle of a random American city, drinking with a few journalists, brewmeisters, carpenters, people from everywhere. This rain falling and stopping.

I turn back to my friend and start my pitch all over again.