Where the Fridge, Not the Bartender, Hands Out Advice
The first time I walked into Trina’s Starlite Lounge in Somerville, Massachusetts, I immediately noticed two things. One, that whoever owned this place shared my favorite style of decor: anti-minimalism. The other was a small fridge behind the bar covered in those clunky, colorful magnetic letters I used to get hooked on phonics back in grade school. Every day the fridge wisely spits out platitudes and life’s bittersweet truths for patrons to enjoy alongside their $4 ’Gansetts—things like “A job is more than a paycheck—it’s also a place where you cry in the bathroom”; “I have to plug my phone into the charger so much I basically have a landline again”; and, serving up some stone-cold nostalgia, “The year is 2015. Trap Queen is playing on the aux cord. Obama is President. Life is good.”