Posted: May 5, 08 7:21pm

Back in the early 90's I managed a Liquor store in upstate NY and if anyone's ever had a job involving people and alcoholic beverages you know you come across some " interesting " people from time to time. I usually closed the store and one of our regular customers was a short, heavy-set Scottish guy with a red beard. He stopped in a couple of times a week, usually right before closing time and since he was a " regular " I knew when he said, " Give me a little Johnnie Walker " in his thick Scottish brogue that he wanted a half pint of Johnnie Walker Red. The owner of the store would play some easy listening radio station and as soon as he left everyday I would change the station to rock music to keep me awake, especially in the winter when business was slow. One snowy night my Scottish friend comes in about twenty minutes before closing. As I'm ringing up his "little Johnnie Walker " a Jethro Tull song comes on the radio. We start talking about Tull and it doesn't take me long to realize that he doesn't just like the music of Jethro Tull, he breathes it. Leaning up against the counter he regales me with stories of concerts long past and how he followed their tours in his battered van, all the while mixing in song lyrics that he knew by heart. Before I knew it, it was almost 20 minutes past closing and as he zipped his jacket preparing to leave, I reached for the bottle and exchanged it with Johnnie Walker Black and handing it too him said " free upgrade." He smiled and clasped my hand and started humming as he disappeared in the snowy night, a Jethro Tull tune no doubt. It was one of the few times I wasn't annoyed with someone for keeping me past closing. As I locked up I thought of the lines from my favorite Tull song, " So you push off from the shore, won't you turn your head once more and make your peace with everyone ? For those who choose to stay, will live just one more day, to do the things they should have done. "