On a Saturday night I stopped into Tony's before getting on the train. I wanted to buy a shot of whiskey. I knew it cost $3. I didn't have any cash so I scanned my room for change and collected enough. I walked into a thick scene. I tried to sit at a stool but it was taken. A man, clearly a patron, asked if he could help me. It didn't seem like he was sincere. I stammered, "ah...uh...I...ah...just want..a shot of whiskey."

He pointed to my driver's license and said, "We don't take cards." As I began to explain that I intended to pay with a clumsy pack of coins, a woman, presumably his wife or girlfriend or, now that I think about it, his sister (or total stranger) began to pantomime smacks and blows behind him.

I moved to the other end of the bar where a regular asked me if I'd been served. I told him no and he in turn told the waitress that I wanted a shot of whiskey. He made small talk but I couldn't hear it. I explained, "I'm deaf in my left ear..."

He cut me off - "No need to explain, I am too." I was shocked.

"Really?"

"Yes, it's something that happened to me when I was very young." Bewildered and skeptical I told him I'd contracted meningitus as a child. "So did I." He noticed my meager currency and offered to trade me bills. When my shot came there was no option but to toast this stranger's kindness. His name was Luis and the whiskey (house) was brutal.