I was not even hungry yet when I saw the ad.

It just stared at me like it already knew.

?Do you need out for dinner and a couple of drinks??

Yes.

Immediately yes.

Do not ask follow-up questions.

I had not finished reading it and I was already looking for my keys while stepping over a Lego like I was navigating a minefield.

Then the ad went straight for my soul.

Are your kids driving you out of your fuckin mind, hollering and screaming like a bunch of goddamn animals?

I did not feel judged.

I felt seen.

That was not marketing.

That was a diagnosis written by someone who has absolutely hidden in a bathroom for five minutes just to breathe.

So I went to The Mad Cow Bar & Grill.

I walked in already damaged.

Ears ringing.

Eye twitching.

Spirit hanging on by a thread.

The hostess did not ask how my day was.

She knew.

She just pointed me toward a table and said, ?Beer??

That was the correct answer.

I sat down and stared at the menu like I had not made a decision in years.

T-bone.

Ribs.

Something dead and sizzling.

I nodded.

????

A few minutes later, they set a pitcher on the table.

Not a glass.

A pitcher.

That is when I knew this place was not here to judge me.

It was here to fix me.

I took a drink and felt my shoulders drop for the first time since Tuesday.

By the second glass, the noise in my head quieted down.

By the third, I couldn?t remember my own name.

By the time the food showed up, I was laughing at nothing and everything.

I walked in there a broken man.

I walked out loud and obnoxious!

Which felt fair.

This is not a restaurant.

This is a pressure release valve.

The Mad Cow Bar & Grill.

Come hungry.

Leave louder than your kids!

??????????????...and that's callin' it like it is!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Canadian artist & digital troublemaker Colin John Cook shares his louder-than-life, awkward, and honest-as-hell stories. Packed with humour, real talk & creative insights in a no filter, digital comedy space that laughs at life & calls it like it is. He is also the Founder and President of

The Hidden Gallery - Art Studio & Micro Theatre

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