THE MOMENT
"Ah, it's okay, it's a common mistake." Bart smiled as he nodded in understanding. "You want Mundo's," then, he gestured at the bar across the street. It was a lively, packed place with the crowd audible throughout the immediate downtown area. Then, he turned and nodded at his own, much smaller, much different bar.
"You could say I tend bar, but I'm not that bartender. I've got my own thing going here. We're not really in competition, I work for him," he said.
"Oh," Jenna, the blonde woman replied with a hint of confusion on her face. She was puzzled by Bart's response, because she didn't actually expect an answer from him. At least, not one that took her seriously. "Sorry, it was kind of a joke," she pointed at the bar, as if it wasn't obvious. "A bad one, I guess," she sighed with a bit of embarrassment, but Bart shook his head.
"HAh!" he laughed. "I do believe I got got," he chuckled. "I hope you don't think poorly of me for assuming... the worst...," he apologized with a half-hearted gesture at her blonde hair. "I very much thought you were serious." Jenna giggled for a moment, then she tilted her head.
"Wait... you thought I was serious? Does that mean all those jokes about walking into a bar did... do happen?" she asked as she turned to glance at the bar across the street for a moment, before she looked back and studied Bart's. "But, they're so different...," she replied with amusement. She couldn't imagine anyone getting to the two bars mixed up. "What are you even doing here?" she asked. From almost any perspective, it looked like he was babysitting an empty, possibly dangerous bar.
"Yeah, it happens a lot more than you'd think," Bart nodded. "Wordplay's fun like that. Unfortunately, wordplay is the same reason I'm on blonde duty here tonight. It's not so bad now, but as the night goes on and people get drunker...," he gestured at their immediate area. "... it gets pretty crowded and somewhat dangerous.
"Blonde duty?" Jenna smirked. She was a natural blonde, and she'd endured the jokes all her life. These days she found amusement in them more than offense. She knew she wasn't stupid.
"Yeah, it's what we started calling it when it became apparent it was going to be an issue. Mundo," he gestured at the bar across the street again. "... started staffing shifts here. It's pretty easy all things considered.
"I don't get it...," Jenna shook her head. She stared, glared, studied, and assessed the bar; and, she still couldn't imagine a reason why the position was called 'Blonde Duty'. "...it's just a bar," she shrugged.
"Well, like you asked... Mundo is the bartender who gets all the joke setups walking into his bar. We called this 'Blonde Duty' for the exact same reason. It's a joke that doesn't quite make it that far to get inside. But, I gotta make sure no one gets hurt."
"What's the joke?" Jenna asked.
"Awww, I don't want to insult you...," Bart shook his head.
"You won't go ahead. Try and make me laugh," she grinned.
"This isn't anything personal... legends say it's exactly what happened...," he said.
"Uhuh," Jenna nodded.
"Okay, here goes then," he nodded. "Three high school friends, two blondes and a brunette, meet up for brunch one day...," he said as he smiled and leaned forward on the bar. "So, they start walking downtown..," he gestured at the block around them. "...when suddenly, the first blonde walks into a bar," he cast his eyes down, and Jenna smiled. She could see the punchline coming, and she genuinely thought it was funny.
"It's surprising, it's the middle of the afternoon after all. And, after some frantic panicking, neither one of them are sure what to do. Chasing after her, the second blonde turns and runs into the bar."
".. And the brunette...," Jenna started giving the punchline, thinking she figured it out. Bart finished it for her, and she was glad to see she was right.
"And, the brunette... went around it."