Wednesday, July 26, 2017

Ronald Reagan

 In 1980, Ronald Reagan was running for President.  He was scheduled to make a campaign speech at the State House in Columbia, and I wanted to see him.  As I have said before, one of my obsessions is to see every President or potential President in my lifetime, and I have except for JFK.  And, I am a political junkie, so I had to be there. 
 One way to see someone famous is to figure out how he is going to get to the site of his speech.  Which route is he going to take?  I knew that Reagan would have to come in the south side of the State House, because it was easier and more private from a security standpoint.  I stood next to the south side entrance to the grounds.  It was just me and an elderly woman.  Just the two of us.  Shortly, we heard the sirens of police cars, and a nondescript car approached.  It wasn't a limousine.  Just a plain four-door sedan.  The car had to slow down to take a speed bump just before the entrance to the grounds.  I was about three feet from the car.  I looked inside the back seat, and there was Ronald Reagan along with his wife Nancy.  The woman and I waved at them, and they waved back.  I then gave a thumbs up to Reagan, and he did the same back to me. 
 After that brief encounter, I noticed that Reagan gave the thumbs up sign a lot after that.  I don't know if I gave him the idea, but it is nice to think so.

Tuesday, July 18, 2017

Christmas Work

 I had to make some money, after getting back home from Texas, and not being able to find a teaching job.  I answered an ad in the paper for a writer.  It was a man, who lived in a public housing high rise, who wanted me to write his life story.  I interviewed him for hours.  He said he worked at the old Jefferson Hotel in Columbia, which was at the corner of Laurel and Main.  It was during the prohibition era, and he used to work at a speakeasy.  He would see politicians stop by for a drink and hook up with a prostitute.  He told me all about the Roaring 20's.  The problem with his story was that it was a one-person's account, which couldn't be verified.  I did some research on my own, and his name never came up in any of my research, despite how powerful he said he was.  In fact, he said he was a local gangster and hitman.  It was obvious to me that he was suffering from dementia.  I never wrote his story.  I don't even remember his name.  He didn't want to pay me, until the book was complete.  So, that's why I didn't write it, even though it was questionable to begin with.  He died a year later.
 I did get a job at J. B. White's at Richland Mall for Christmas.  It was part-time, and my job was to restock bags at registers and do some stock work.  I was not the only one doing this job, which was good, because it was pretty hard.  In those days, department stores were very busy with Christmas shoppers.  So, I spent the majority of my time bringing bags out to the departments that needed them.  At first, it was a not so bad, but as Christmas got closer, it got more demanding.  I brought the bags out, and stooped down to put them underneath the registers.  On one occasion, I brought out a pack of really big bags.  The load shifted on me, and I hurt my back.  So much so that I couldn't stand up.  The pain was awful.  I had to quit that job, because my back was more important to me than the money.  Ever since then, I have had lower back problems.  No workman's comp for me.

Thursday, July 13, 2017

Willie Nelson

 When I sold records in Ft. Worth, Willie Nelson was the second most popular artist.  The most popular was Bob Wills and The Texas Playboys.  So, when Willie announced he was coming to Columbia for a concert in 1979, I just had to go.
 Delbert McClinton opened for him.  He was great.  Then, Willie came on stage.  He did a killer show.  The one thing that I was amused at, and I know he was too, was that a bunch of guys in the audience showed up wearing cowboy hats.  The hats were nice and clean.  They looked like they had never been worn before.  What was funny about that was what I had seen in Texas.  Any self-respecting Texan would buy a cowboy hat and then run over it with their car or truck before wearing it.  That fashion statement was important, because it had to look used.  It had to be dirty.  And, it had to look beat-up.  None of these guys in Columbia had hats that looked like that.  They weren't real cowboys.  They were showy, fake cowboys.
 So, if you go to a country music concert, be sure to roll your hat over with your car or truck, preferably in the mud.