Bar Stools

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been fascinated by bar stools. Much before the legal age when I could procure and consume alcohol, I’ve had a thing for bar stools. I still remember distinctly the first bar stool I laid my eyes on. It belonged to this neighbor with home mom would leave me whenever she needed to step out for a while. He was a nice old man with one passion. He loved his bar goodies and had a fancy bar set in his living room. Each time I was in his house, I would make a beeline for the bar stools, where I would happily perch for the rest of the time I spent there.

There was something about those bar stools that attracted me. Initially, I think it was the height of the bar stools that captivated my attention. At home, we only had sofas and couches that barely, if ever gave one the feeling of rising above it all. Truth be told, they actually made you sink in and your view of the world was framed between your knees. But with bar stools, it was an altogether different story. To my midget height then, they seemed like a mountain to conquer. And while I initially had issues with scaling them, I soon mastered the art of leapfrogging my way onto them.

My love affair with bar stools continued all through my adolescence. I finally managed to persuade my folks to get me a bar stool of my own and placed it strategically in one corner of my room. And since I took up architecture in college and needed to spend a lot of time hunched over blue prints, the bar stool came to my handy rescue. The normal chairs were never tall enough, which ensured that most students did their home work standing in front of the board. But with my bar stool, I was able to sit down and comfortably work, thus saving myself tremendous soreness.

So it was that I graduated from college with flying colors and made my way to an architectural firm. For a couple of months, I spent most of my time on the road, taking measurements of all sorts of buildings and things. I sorely ignored my dear old bar stool and never even thought about it in all those months. But one fine day, when we had just concluded a stressful but exciting project, I accompanied my colleagues to the nearest bar for a well deserved drink. And guess what? It was one of those places with nice long bar stools! I immediately made my way to the table and plonked myself there!