When one goes on one of one’s rambles, one doesn’t always have the time one wishes to devote to exploring completely one’s destination, something one complicates by not stopping at an ATM before boarding Tram 1 in the direction of the end of the line. In the immediate vicinity of Vozovna Kobylisy, one will realize upon arrival, there is no obvious way to make a withdrawal. This is a bloody shame, as one would have picked a sunny day to make the trip, and the outdoor drinking at Občerstvení na Konečně (Refreshment at the End of the Line) would make one drool.

One might spin around looking for the most likely direction in which one would get one’s money, and one might guess the Bauhaus blocks up and across Ústecká would be a safe bet. One’d be wrong, as one often is when one guesses. But one would be determined not to have walked away from 15 Kč Staropramen drafts on a scorching day with little more than an hour at one’s disposal in Prague 8 for naught, so one might walk a few more blocks, past a business park and into a sea of car dealerships before one would finally admit defeat.

One wouldn’t be piss-poor. No matter how strapped for cash one is, one always has a few coins. One would, however, be on a time schedule, though one’s never been shy about using the 15-minute or so grace period one figures is a fair amount of time to allow oneself to be late before whoever’s waiting should become impatient.

One might consider a beer at the Bauhaus café, but one realizes it’d probably be overpriced, and, plus, one just moved into a new flat, so one might find oneself shopping at a Bauhaus soon enough, and one will surely drink a beer there then. So one would return to Občerstvení na Konečně, where one would order that Staropramen and sip it in the sun. One might look longingly at the large park adjacent to the tram stop and wish that one had brought a book, a dog, or a girl. One would add those to the list, along with time and money, of things that one would bring should one ever return to Vozovna Kobylisy and its Refreshment at the End of the Line.

previously published in Provokator print magazine

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