Commentary: My me time at Mike's Tavern may have to change

There's been a change in my life.

My bar has a new owner.

I guess I'm not too worried that the new owners will dramatically change the ol' place, but as strange as it sounds, the bar was kind of the one constant in my transformation from law school to practicing law.

Mike's Tavern is about a half mile from UMKC Law School, so I frequently stopped through for a beer while I was in school.

It universally became my Friday happy-hour spot, where I could see friends (both legal and normal) hang out, talk about issues that had come up professionally and personally and generally let off a little steam.

After school, I moved in next door to my bar.

Well, as luck would have it a friend in his third year lived right behind the place and had a spare bedroom, and I needed a cheap place to live.

I stayed for a year and a half.

Through this time period, as I began to practice law, Mike's became the place I could tell my stories to law school buddies and discuss the trials and tribulations of new lawyers.

We even managed to draft a veteran attorney into our fold, which made the place a great sounding board for ideas and strategies for different legal matters.

Not exactly leather chairs and cigars but the low-rent equivalent of the conference room.

Now, as I've increased my own responsibilities with a family, mortgage and more and more clients, Mike's has become my Friday- night stop after a week of work.

It kind of hits the reset button for the beginning of a weekend as my son's primary care giver with mom at work and lets me discuss the previous week's adventures handling my case load.

I'm kind of scared some of my habits may change if the place changes too much. By and large the place is a college bar and needs to attract college kids. Which after nearly a decade under my belt as a student, I can proudly say I am not a member of that club anymore.

But despite its attraction to a younger crowd, the happy hour at Mike's has always been a mixed bag of people, diverse in terms of race, socioeconomic status and occupations.

The atmosphere is kind of like Cheers, only with more than just white people.

In the end I'll have to wait and see.

I'm excited the place will move forward. It really is a landmark on Troost Avenue.

Improving the bathrooms a bit will not hurt the rustic aesthetic any in my mind, but what of the moose, the dusty picture of Belushi in his "college" sweatshirt and the cheap beer.

I hope with the change some things will remain constant.

I know my fellow happy-hour patrons will enjoy some upgrades, but will it still have that old-sneaker feel we all love so much?

I guess if I do have to change, I should probably find something that does not involve smoking and drinking as part of my reset button.

But I'm just not a yoga kind of guy.

I think it's important to find whatever it is that makes you happy for a few hours a week and do it. Just for you.

We lawyers take on our client's issues and have to deal with our own lives as well. Finding an hour or two here and there for ourselves is important. Maybe doing mine in a bar isn't the healthiest option, but it's my time, and I could care less what people think. That's the point. The time is yours.

Maybe my "me" time is going to have to change, which is kind of weird, but I will continue to fight for it because I think it makes me a better lawyer.

Even if that is not true, I know it makes me a lot easier to get along with, and my wife appreciates that, I'm sure.

Craig Napier practices in Kansas City, performing litigation for small businesses and families throughout the metro area. He can be reached at nnapier@kc.rr.com.

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