I'm Not AloneThe Path to Solitude at Charlie's Corner Bar. On the way, I pass the party store where I'll find the beer and cigarettes I've been told to buy. It can wait. As I approach the bar, bright neon beer slogans illuminate the dark windows. A couple leaves the bar and, through the open door, laughter intended to impress seeps through. As I enter the bar, I see that the laughter is coming from the mass of hairy chests, tight dresses, and bleached hair surrounding the jukebox in the corner. I walk to a seat at the end of the bar and raise my hand slightly to catch Charlie's attention. “What’s it going to be like tonight?” I drop my money, "Ah, the usual Charlie" - double vodka on the rocks (harder to trace on the breath). Taking a sip, I briefly search for an interesting life among a room dotted with rhinestone diamond earrings, brown curls drunk on Mayboline eyes, and fumes of fermented cereal pushed on lipstick and lipstick . I have an almost psychotic habit of looking at strangers and wondering if they could be like me. Sometimes I spot what I think might be a kindred spirit and find some comfort in the fact that I'm not alone. I skim over the tight dresses in the corner, "Nothing Like Me," and spot an interesting specimen, partially hidden by the shadows, sitting next to the pool table at the back of the room -- "Uh, he's new ." There is an obviously drunk man playing pool, and as he aims for a ghost ball on the table, a quick, drunken flick of his tail knocks his beer, sitting on the table behind him, into the man's lap. 'stranger. The uncorked idiot tries to apologize as the man slowly gets up from his seat. “It looks like the start of a fight,” I said to Charlie, pointing to the table. "Uh, fight. I always wanted to say that in a bar, but I never really wanted to witness it." The stranger towels himself off with the towel Charlie brought him, and he turns to the drunk in an attempt to accept the apology. Aside from minor frustration, the man appears unaffected by this act. I wonder if his dry cleaning bill will get the same response. His composure intrigues me. Most men I've known would have punched the drunk for his carelessness, but the expensive suit he adorns is my first clue that this guy is definitely not like most men I've known..