They’re Tearing Down Tim Reily’s Bar

Posted on Tuesday, July 15th, 2008 at 6:29 pm

Permalink

As a follow up to the last blog about the sentimental value of old buildings I remembered my favorite episode of the TV series NIGHT GALLERY.  This was my favorite show when I was in the sixth and seventh grade.  It was hosted by Rod Serling and had stories very similar to those you might have seen on The Twilight Zone (another favorite of mine, but only in reruns since I was too young to watch them in first run).  In fact I believe that Serling was a genius, particularly at combining the bizarre with the melancholy. 

The episode of Tim Riley’s bar is one in which a middle age man begins to face his mortality as a result of the tearing down of a local neighborhood bar in which many of his greatest memories have taken place; his first date, his welcome home after the war, and his meetings with his father.  At the point of the story he finds himself alone and the tearing down of the bar seems to be the tearing down of a part of his past that can never be recaptured.  You can watch the episode in one of two ways: One you can purchase the series, and there are some great stories here, from Amazon by clicking this link.  The other way is to watch it on you tube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuWX4ZZv2YQ&feature=related) which cuts you out of a lot of the background that the DVD collection provides.

I of course recommend getting the entire season.  There are some real gems if you like fantasy and soft sci-fi.

As to the story at hand, the hero sees his favorite watering hole being torn down and realizes that he must say goodbye to many things that he has loved.  Here is my updated version: Goodbye Andy Griffith and Opie, and Barny nipping it in the bud; Goodbye picking up hitchhiker because the person probably just needed a ride; Goodbye trusting a man just because he was a minister; So long to your favorite athlete who stayed with his team because he loved it, not because of money; Goodbye to the time when America was looked upon as a nation that would always be the land that did the right and moral thing with prisoners of war; and more and more, goodbye to the church where, like at Cheers, everybody knows your name.  We have torn down a lot of buildings over the years but the questions is, are we really any better off?

We can microwave our dinners, set our coffee pots to percolate before we get up, and even have books read to us while we do other things.  We have more time saving devices than any culture in the history of civilization, but what do we do with that time?

This afternoon I was able to see some of the fruit of my time.  Two of my former students Eric and Tommy passed their ordination exams at presbytery.  For those of you not familiar with our system of government, this is a big deal.  I didn’t have much to do with either of these two men passing their exam.  I taught them a few things, but these are men whose gifts are great and far outshine the small things that I helped them with.  As I saw them pass the exam, I was proud.  I felt like I was perhaps a small brick, or better a little piece of morter in the building of their lives.  I was so proud of them.  If all that I do in my life is influence students like Tommy and Erick (and believe me there are many professors who likely had much more influence than I) it will be a building project that I am proud of.  No matter when my building comes down.

A building showing its age,

DrSamLam