Danny, 31

I started bartending here when I was 20. I was in college at the time and almost everyone was too. We were all kind of figuring it out together. I'd pour drinks and they'd complain about midterms and we'd end up at some diner at 4am eating waffles none of us could really afford.

It's crazy to say I'm 31 now and I still work there. The bar hasn't changed much. New paint a few years ago, one of the booths got reupholstered. The customers are still 20-year-olds. Different 20-year-olds.

I don't know exactly when it started to feel weird. Probably around 27. Some girl ordered a vodka soda and called me sir and I laughed about it for the rest of the shift but it sat in my chest a little. Now it happens all the time and I don't laugh anymore.

The regulars I used to close the bar with graduated and moved to Brooklyn or LA or back to wherever they were from. Some of them still text me on birthdays. Most don't.

Today a kid came in who looked exactly like this guy who was a buddy of mine when I first started. For a second I thought it was him and I almost said his name. Then I remembered he's 34 now and works in insurance in fucking Eugene Oregon. I saw it on Facebook. I feel like the exact same person I was 10 years ago so somewhere in my head, I figure everyone must look the same too.

I like my job. I want to say that because I know how this sounds. I'm good at it and I make decent money and I don't want to sit at a desk. But there's a version of this where I woke up one day and I was 45 and still doing this and the kids at the bar were calling me sir and meaning it. I don't know if I'm scared of that version or if I'm already in it.

My shift ended at 2. And I walked home the long way.