A Cowboy from Pecos
A cowboy at a bar in Pecos, Texas orders three mugs of Lone Star and sits in the back room, drinking a sip out of each one in turn.
When he finishes them, he comes back to the bar and orders three more.
The bartender tells him, "You know, a mug goes flat after I draw it. It would taste better if you bought one at a time."
The cowboy replies, "I have two brothers. One is in Alpine, the other in Fredericksburg. I'm in Pecos. When we left home, we promised that we'd drink this way to remember the days we drank together. I drink one for each of my brothers and one for myself."
The bartender tells him it is a nice custom. The cowboy becomes a regular, and always orders three mugs and drinks them in turn.
One day he comes in and orders two mugs. All the regulars take notice and fall silent.
When he comes back to the bar for the second round the bartender says,
"We don't want to intrude on your grief, but we wanted to offer our condolences on your loss."
The cowboy looks quite puzzled for a moment, then a light dawned and he laughs. "Oh, no, everybody's just fine," he explains. "It's just that my wife and I joined the Baptist Church and I had to quit drinking.
Hasn't affected my brothers though..."
Originally published November 01, 2004.
