Reopening of the Pawn and Pint

After about three months of pandemic controls in Kansas City, my favorite bar and game shop Pawn and Pint has had a limited reopening. Before the novel coronavirus, I would go every Wednesday to play Dungeons & Dragons with the Adventurer's League group there. I didn't really realize how important it was to my weekly routine until I was cooped up in my house for so long!

I was pretty excited to go in yesterday, so I drove up there right after work. Despite opening on Monday, I had my bass lesson with Derek so I had waited a day before visiting. Parking was a breeze as usual, and I was promptly walking through the door, which had probably four posted pages of new rules and regulations for the space, the highlights seemed to be:

• Masks required while walking around
• Masks will be provided if you don't have one
• Use hand sanitizer before touching games
• More rigidly follow the old rule of returning games to the bin, not the shelf
• No entry if exhibiting flu symptoms

Honestly, pretty standard stuff at this point. Once inside, (Other) Ed was up front and gave a warm greeting from behind a face shield and plexiglass at the counter, which I'll admit felt a bit surreal. We chinwagged a minute, and then I was surprised he was ringing up a store gift-card to compensate me for three months of my year-long membership in store credit. I found that to be very generous, and wasn't expecting that at all: I figure I'll spend the credit on high-margin stuff to support the store efficiently.

After that, I popped into the venue proper, and about half of the tables were closed up. Don was behind the bar training a newly hired bartender, and Alex was setting up for Magic the Gathering. I caught up with the staff at the bar and ordered a Sereni-Tea (a tasy Arnold Palmer-style lemonade cocktail). It seems they've managed to keep most of their staff around through the pandemic, and are training up several of their waitstaff as bartenders. My understanding is that several of the bartenders are still furloughed until expected tip volume is enough for it to be profitable to come in versus collecting benefits: I'm likely wrong on the details, of course. I'd particularly like to hang out with Styles again, having done so every Wednesday for over a year, but it seems that's still in the works.

After a minute, I figured I'd join in on the Magic table, despite not having played the game in almost ten years. Everyone was very nice, not only being polite but positively excited to explain the new rules and mechanics that'd been introduced in the intervening years since I last played (in the Alara block). It was fun hearing everyone talk about their cards and gossiping about banned cards and new releases.

I had a blast playing a few games, and more magic players streamed in over the five hours I was there, although I switched to spectating after a minute to let others try out their decks. I nabbed a t-shirt from the shop and enjoyed a few refreshments, and had some good banter with some geeks: was awesome, and a welcome break from quarantine.

When nine o' clock rolled around, though, it was time for me to start heading back home, so I settled my tab and peaced out. It was a very nice chunk of normalcy returned, and I look forward to resuming my weekly visitation to the land of board games! I recommend it if you're ever in the Kansas City area: they are open after 4 on weekdays, and broader hours on weekends. You can find their site at pawnsandpints.com. I think the cover is $5, which is a pittance for the fun you'll have with their full wall of board games and good vibes.