A Love-Letter To The Pub

Schmidt's Tobacco & Trading, also known as Schmidt's Pub, or simply The Pub is a privately-owned and operated drinking and smoking establishment in Albany, California. 1492 Solano Avenue in Albany, California to be exact. The proprietor, John Schmidt has been running it pretty much the same way, with the help of his family and friends since 1978. Almost fifty years. It's decor and general vibe is loosely-based on various Pubs John Schmidt has frequented in his travels to Ireland and England. "Research," as he calls it.

Record-keeping is done with a simple tally on a yellow notepad. The Pub serves a variety of beer, wine, and non-alcoholic beverages in addition to a wide array of tobacco products. John Schmidt keeps tabs on his stock by tapping on the kegs. He can estimate the remainder with accuracy to within a few pints.

I started coming to the Pub in 2006. At that time I was one of the youngest regular patrons there. I kept my mouth shut for six-months or so and observed. When I finally opened my mouth to speak, my slightly-older fellow patrons, the regulars, verbally chopped my head off. I looked down at my shoes, but I was smiling. I knew then, I had been welcomed into the loose group of zany dissenters and affected individualists. I enjoyed the snark. The camaraderie. The laughter.

Arguments would carry-on into the night about which way the toilet water flows depending on which side of the equator you find yourself on for example. Or what defines a vortex versus a whirlpool. These arguments about minutiae and obscure factoids would get quite heated, and sometimes people would get up and walk away with hurt feelings. Which was funny to me. Still is. Arguments like this are a classic representation of the backroom banter at this beloved fixture.

A Sanctuary.

Everyone, all the regulars for the most part treats the Pub as a sanctuary. A holy place. The Pub and Pubsters are quite forgiving, and we give each other plenty of leeway. There is a common understanding that people arrive in all shapes, intoxication-levels, and mental-states. Sometimes someone clearly oversteps another's boundaries. If it is not acknowledged and corrected quickly, the leeway that is normally given, becomes the rope that we pay out. The Pub is largely self-regulating.

Most people are on their best behavior.

Physical conflict is extremely rare, and when it does happen, it's over in thirty seconds or less. At any rate, you have to be extremely obnoxious for an extended period of time to get 86'd, our word for being banned from the premises. Even then, it's usually just a thirty-day ban, and the person so banned can write a direct appeal to John Schmidt. No guarantees he will read it or respond. There are people who have been banned permanently, they were consistently bad for business over a long period of time or took an unforgivable action. I have managed to not get 86'd myself, yet.

Like waves washing up on the shore.

Since I have been making regular pilgrimages to this unique watering-hole for going on twenty years, I have seen individuals and whole groups of people come-and-go. Divorcees, festival-goers, professors, students, professionals and mysterious characters of all stripes and colors.

There are groups that have stuck around for a long time however. The Pub is a different experience depending on the day of the week and time of day you arrive.

Groups and cliques.

From what I have seen, there are the early-birds on the back porch, the front porch daytime crew and evening back porch crew, the raconteurs who hang around and chat up the bartender at night, and then there is everyone else: The transitory students, the board-gamers, the out-of-towners.

There are many other smaller groups of people tied together by a common interest. There was a group of Pubsters who got together to go to Burning Man each year. They helped each other in innumerable ways, with transportation, tickets, lodging, and pet care for example. There are groups of Pubsters who go fishing, play music together, or pickleball.

There is cross-pollination of course. I've never been a joiner. Being The Outsider that I am, I jump from group to group depending on the day. I get up and simply tell whoever I'm with that I'm going to wander around. I have a restless spirit, as if I didn't want to miss anything. I talk to transitory patrons often because I'm curious where they're from and where they're going.

You never know who you're sitting next to.

Over the years there have been founding members of companies you've definitely heard of, impromptu family reunions, long-time job-seekers finally finding work, educational opportunities, star-crossed people getting together, finding love.

I have met professionals of every stripe: teachers, professors, scientists, composers, singers, art-directors, computer programmers, lawyers, authors, doctors, nurses, longshoremen, merchant marines, architects, iron-workers, contractors, farmers, glass-blowers and luthiers. There are interns and retirees.

It's like craigslist, but in-person, and with a 99% response rate. It's serendipity in action, and it's a delight to watch watch it unfold.

A bastion of dissent, independent thought and debate.

The Pub is an unlikely mix of viewpoints. People there feel quite strongly about their views. When they come to the Pub and stick around, their views are eventually challenged in-the-round. It's just what happens. What I have noticed is that some people stick to their guns with mental acrobatics or dismissal, while others surprisingly listen, debate and compromise. There is room at the Pub for all of it. There are multiple seating areas, and you are not required to participate.

Politics.

Personally, I typically avoid politics and religion at all costs. There is a correlation between that fact and my belief in peace at all costs. You could call me a peacenik, and I won't be offended. I will delve into political discussions with select people at select times, but it's rare for me. I usually simply walk away when it begins. And for anyone who went to church or seminary, I respect your scholastic commitment, but I will choose other topics most of the time. No offense is intended.

A Priviledge.

I realize that preaching my message of peace and hope is a privilege. I think it is a privilege of being alive and human, with the faculties of reason.

Please read Why I Avoid Politics Now all the way through if you want to know why: Even a disadvantaged person raised in the Jabalia refugee camp can have hope and believe in peace. No matter what, we are not doomed to a life of violence and retribution if we are committed to peace and hope.

There is a place in the sun for each of us if you can treasure where you're at and have hope for the future. If you're not sure, treasure that. There is wisdom in insecurity. I think Alan Watts said that, and published a book by the same title.

My own message.

I am very much concerned with people at an individual level. It's pretty simple. I'm not here to boost anyone else's message. I have my own message, that of peace and hope. It is difficult to imagine or construct an engaging meme of peace and hope that has the possibility of going viral. Some people find peace and hope trite, maybe cheesy, or insincere. I must say that I am quite sincere about it. Peace and hope are the foundations upon which love, kindness, and reason can be built and extended. That is the ultimate message I was raised with. Credit where credit is due.

Not hippies.

My parents were not hippies, they were survivors. Outsiders. My mother checked out the communes, and she was not impressed. In 1980 at age 27 they packed it all into a '72 Cutlass and towed a trailer across the country during a snowstorm. They jack-knifed on the freeway on the way over, but we all made it to California, no worse for the wear.

Since I got back in-touch with them, I thank them frequently for doing that because otherwise, I would've grown up in McClean, Virginia. No offense to anyone from there. I just think they made the right decision for us at the time.

Bitter-sweet.

Having been around for so long, I sometimes have to say goodbye to old friends, old flames and loves that I have known there. It is bitter sometimes, but mostly sweet, and always changing. You never know who's going to walk through the door. Speaking of loves, I met Jenny at the Pub! I detail exactly how we met in my article Jenny's Ever-Changing Garden.

Recently we closed the Pub (and then re-opened) for the Liming Wedding Reception. Jacob and Mariah have been regulars at the Pub for some time. They met at the Pub and Mariah is a long-time bartender there.

Cheers.

People sometimes say it's like that old television show, Cheers. I just nod and smile, because I've never seen that show. I know how the chorus goes to the show's theme song and that's about it. I'm a local. I don't know if I'm a local that's done good, but I can say that I'm doing the best I can. It may seem like a small corner of reality, but it's my corner.

I admit, I feel a little pride well up when I walk up those steps and everyone cheers and says my name in unison. People nearby slap my hand high-five and hug me. I feel a lot of love for each of the regulars at the Pub. I know many of their stories, and they know many of mine.

Pubster Portraits.

In 2021 during the Pando I began taking portraits of many of the regulars. I released a book of those portraits called Pubsters 2022 and sold fourteen copies. I did it again, took photos for the year of 2023 and released another book in 2024 called Pubsters #2. I have a photo essay on this site called Pubster Portraits 2022-2024. In it, I provide direct links to buy those photo books if you wish, or you can simply flip through them online. I make no commission, and they are provided at cost.

My portraits are candid and point-blank.

I have a rapport with my subjects, and I am not obsessed with symmetry as some portrait photographers seem to be. I think a face tells a story, perfect in it's imperfections. There is no other face like yours unless you have an identical twin. The Japanese have a word for it, wabi-sabi. I think we are all capable of wabi-sabi. Not just in our faces but in our lives in general.

There is a strange beauty that blooms within each of us. This inner-beauty sadly remains just beyond our grasp, it cannot be plucked like a flower from a garden. But I believe it can be captured with a portrait under the right circumstances. By the way, if you are interested in having your portrait taken by me, check out my photography rates.

Responsibility.

I spent my younger days as a full-blown alcoholic, and some time as a heavy-drinker flirting with disaster after that. I detail much of that story in A Pachinko Life. I still drink to excess on occasion, but I am conscious and selective about it. Most of all, I am concerned with personal safety and the safety of others. I will bypass a good-time in favor of getting my loved ones home safely. I think that's the bottom-line. I still take the backstreets, but I don't wait to be pulled over to sober-up. I plan in advance.

Carriage-wit.

I am most outspoken here on my website, where I have time to compose my thoughts and reflect before I publish. I keep my viewpoint close to the chest in-person. I choose not to react, but to act, consciously. Here, I get to control the narrative. I have not kissed the Blarney Stone. I think it is pissed on by the locals anyways.

I have what some call carriage-wit. I am a slow writer, and slow reader. I am a slow person in-general. If you are new to the Pub, it may take me a couple of years to remember your name, but when I do, I make sure to get your last name as well. I consider it a sign of respect. Many people at the Pub append "Pub" as the last name for somebody they enter into their phones. I make it a point to get surnames for everyone who is in my phone-book. And people are impressed when I can rattle off full names for everyone in the room.

Ramble on.

Anyway, this has been quite a rambling article. If you have read this far, I really appreciate it and I won't ask anymore of you. Please join us at the Pub. I love the Pub. It is my social, professional and love-life nexus. A special place no doubt, with a diehard following. I proudly count myself among them. A Pubster.

The Pub has been around so long, almost fifty years. There exist multi-generational Pubsters. Children of Pubsters, who are now of-age to drink.

This is all to say it is a special place that will change your life if you stick around, or maybe just your attitude about life. Come down and check it out for yourself.

Maybe you'll find what you need, whatever that is.