Sometimes when you're dreaming with a broken heart, the perfect place to hang your hat is down at Jim's Alibi. The downtrodden men sit on bar stools staring at empty bottles in their hands and meaningless images that dance across the television screen. Willie Nelson plays on the jukebox and the sound of customers shooting pools fills the lonely ears of the even lonelier men.
Jim's Alibi, or simply the Alibi, is located on Broadway Avenue across the street from the Shopko shopping center. The bar, over the years, has not only been a harbor for the lonely men of the world (heart broken or not), but a small bar where friends can gather and wallow in the misery of their lives. As they say, misery loves company.
Okay, it's not that bad. The place has lightened up over the years. The occasional lonely man still makes his appearance at the bar, but what bar doesn't really have a customer like this. Willie does play fairly often on the jukebox, but the music machine is also sprinkled with the likes of Journey, Tim McGraw, Garth Brooks, and AC/DC. The bar offers darts, pool, and also has a pinball machine. Within the last few years, my friends and I have also discovered that the bar carries the DirectTv Major League baseball channels. This allows us to head on over to the bar whenever we want to catch a game of our favorite teams. The bar has four tv's, I believe, so the bartender and/or bouncer is usually willing to let you switch to the team of your desire.
Jim's Alibi has delivered it's fair share of lonely nights. This has also been a place where you meet some interesting characters. And yes, sometimes a fight will break out, but one man usually wises up and stumbles out the door. Or one man's friends will intervene just before anything too serious happens. Keep in mind, this has happened when I visit. I can't promise their will be a fight or that the fight will be broken up, but in my experiences, the spats are over and done quickly. The people go back to their beer and enjoy the moment of loneliness they were previously stuck in.
In concluding, Jim's Alibi is the nice little joint to enjoy a lonely night in which the beer is cheap and the company good. Or, if you and your friends are looking to kick back, relax, and watch a game, the Alibi is also a great place to hang out. If your lucky, you might meet and old man, a World War II vet, who can tell you about flying in Germany and then again ten years later in Korea. Then he can relate those stories many years later to a young man who is fresh off of a break up, reminding the young man that there is a full life to live. Sometimes, after all, the Jim's Alibi can provide a man with the little bit of light he needs in his life.
"So many worlds, so much to do, so little time, such things to be."- Lord Tennyson
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