Bar Culture

My night at a local bar. The location of this particular bar is best described as sketchy. Outside of the bar I found vomit, broken glass and trash littered along the fence. The outside of the bar was illuminated with traditional florescent red lights advertising the bar and its specials. People standing outside the entrance in smoke circles talking about their day and sharing cigarettes and joints. This is not a night club, not a dance club, just a good old fashion bar, filled with people from a variety of cultural backgrounds. Inside the bar I found people of various races, a wide spread of ages, both men and women. If I were to try to find a common ground for this particular crowd, I would identify the majority are of low income. This bar is located in a relatively low income neighborhood on the south side of Colorado Springs just outside of Fountain, Colorado. I grew up in a low income family so that part of this culture I can identify with. It is really the perceived level of despair that drives a person to drinking I struggle to understand. Even though growing up we were very poor I never felt poor. I never felt like I missed out on anything. I never even realized we were poor until my senior year of high school. Yes, I knew we were on food stamps. I knew we shopped …show more content…
I grew up with a father who had a drinking problem. My older brother also struggled with alcohol. I made a decision my freshman year in high school. I would never drink or use drugs. I made this decision because I saw the effects they had on both my father and my brother. During an assembly in high school some people came in and talked about the dangers of drinking and how alcoholism is hereditary. This scared me immensely and I vowed never to even test that theory. Having said that, I wanted to know and understand the thought process, motivation, and satisfaction drinking and the environment of the bar