A bar is reborn

In April 2005, I was a sergeant in the USMC, just landing at Camp Pendleton from my 3^rd combat tour in Iraq. I saw the orders clerk running to greet me. He then handed me a set of orders that said I had exactly one week to report to my new unit in Salt Lake City Utah. I asked him what country that was in, he said I was staying in the USA. Utah was a state not a country. I have lived here since then, and would like to correct the orders clerk, Utah is its own country. My duty while in Utah was unlike anywhere I had been before. I didn’t have a schedule, my fellow Marines stationed here were all of equal rank, and I slept in a bed. I had enough free time I decided to buy a business. After wondering what I was going to buy, I found a run down, old, dirty, sleazy bar. I don’t know why, but I fell in love with it. I bought it against the advice of my closest friends and advisors. I saw the potential they didn’t. On June 16^th 2006 I became the proud owner of Willies Lounge. Since then we have expanded many times. We have built up our own following and completely changed the culture of the whole area. It has not come without its costs, headaches, ulcers, and tears. Much like my time in the Marines, owning a bar (especially in Utah) has been a life changing event. Every week I see something that makes me laugh and cry. It is the only place I have ever been associated with that completely exhausts me one day, and reinvigorates me the next. I recommend everybody own a bar at least once in their lives. Life will never be boring.