Star Wars

 I have never seen "Star Wars".  I have never seen any of the sequels, prequels, or quells (whatever they are).  It isn't that I don't like action movies or sci-fi movies.  I do.  But, I have no desire to see anything "Star Wars".  Why, you ask? 
 It comes from an experience I had, when I worked for Sanger Harris Department Store in Ft. Worth.  The movie had just come out, and there were a lot of action figures and other toys connected to the movie.  I worked near the Toy Dept.  We kept selling out of everything "Star Wars".  We couldn't keep them in the store, especially the action figures.  It wasn't just us.  They were selling out everywhere.  We couldn't possibly have enough for everybody.
 So, I would have children (mostly boys) and their mothers come into the store looking for the figures.  I would tell them we had sold out.  The kids would raise a fuss, and I had some kick me in my shins.  The mothers would get upset, and cuss me out.  I didn't really blame them.  They had probably been all over town to try and get these toys, but they took it out on me.  I got so turned off by their responses to me that I vowed never to see any of the movies.  I guess it sounds a little extreme on my part, but that was my response to their abuse. 
 I have had friends tell me that I should see "Star Wars" anyway.  They tell me it is a very good movie.  I guess it is, but I do have principles.  Years later, I was at home and watching TV.  I was flipping the channels and found a movie to watch. It was pretty good. I had seen about ten minutes of it, when it went to a commercial.  The announcer said, "We'll be back to Star Wars in just a minute."  I was horrified.  I had actually seen a portion of the movie.  But, I immediately turned it off.  I couldn't risk having flashbacks of the bruises on my legs from pouting children.  Or, hearing words coming out of women's mouths that they shouldn't have said.  I have even been threatened by a friend that he is going to tie me down and force me to watch the movie.  Never.

The Wreck

 I was rushing home late one afternoon from work in 1977.  I loved to drive fast.  There was a misty rain, and the roads were slick.  I was on the freeway and hit the off ramp a little too fast.  I hit the brakes, but they locked up and I started sliding.  There was a Lincoln in front of me, which was stopped at the light.  There was nothing I could do but watch my car slide into the back of it.  That was a horrible feeling.
 I wasn't injured except for bruised knees from hitting the dash.  I got out of my car, and apologized profusely to the people in the Lincoln.  They said it was okay, and we both pulled around the corner from the ramp. Their car had a broken taillight.  My car was bashed in big time.  The front wheel on the passenger side was messed up.  The radiator had moved further toward the windshield. 
 The police came had decided that weather was the cause, so I wasn't cited.  I got back to school, as it wasn't far from the wreck.  The next day, I called the Ford dealership and asked them to tow my car to it.  Then, I called my insurance company who told me I should have called them first, because they wouldn't pay for the card being at the Ford place.  It wasn't recognized by the insurance company as an authorized service place.  I did not know how to deal with the insurance folks except screaming and crying, but they wouldn't budge.  The Ford folks told me that the work was going to have to be somewhat specialized, and they could do it better than just a willy-nilly body shop, but I could not afford to get it fixed without the insurance.  I asked the Ford guys if they could work on it, while I dealt with the insurance, and they said no, so my car sat at the Ford place for a week.  Meanwhile, they did give me a rental car from my insurance.  It was a Ford LTD, which seemed like driving a tank compared to my car.  The front end was so long that I felt like I had to brake a half of a block before stopping at a light. 
 I called my father in SC to ask him what I should do.  He called our insurance rep, who got on the phone with the company, and said a few choice words with them.  The insurance company decided to pay for the repair on my car at the dealership, and I had some money leftover afterwards that I used to buy a TV for my dorm room.  By the way, it cost $600 to fix my car, and 50 cents to fix the Lincoln.
 For a long time after that experience, I was very nervous driving in the rain, and I tried to avoid it as much as possible.  My car was never the same after that accident. 

Sangers

 Around February 1977, a new mall was being built in Ft. Worth called Hulen Mall.  An upscale department store was going to open in that mall called Sanger-Harris.  I needed a part-time job to help pay for seminary, so I went out there to see if I could get a job.  The fact that I had retail experience made me a good fit for the store, and I was hired to work 4pm-8pm Monday through Friday. 
 Sanger-Harris was just a step down from Neiman-Marcus.  The store had a lot of expensive things, and then merchandise that regular people could afford, too.  I was hired to work in the Home area, and specifically Books and Records.  I also sold Stationery, Luggage, Toys, Sporting Goods, Candy, and Fabrics.  Everything about the store was great. We even had celebrities come to the store to make personal appearances.  George Hamilton.  James Beard.  Playboy playmate Hope Olsson.  Just to name a few.  On Saturdays, someone would play the grand piano in the center of the store, or we would have a choir come in.  It was a classy place.
 My fellow employees were also very nice people--Mrs. Miller, Gert, Ron, Don, Charles, Maria, and Kare were my favorites.  I just had the best time working there, and it was really fun.  I even would stay after it was my time to get off.  I would clock out and continue working.  I came in on my days off to work.  My supervisors would have to make me leave and sometimes drag me out of the door.  I just couldn't stay away. 
 In the Book Department, we would have authors come in for book signings.  One Christmas, I was able to give my family autographed books from famous authors.  Our Record Department was rather unique.  Due to our employees (me included), we sold more records than any other department store in the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex, and our Record Department was in the top three record stores in sales in Ft. Worth.  That was a huge accomplishment.  We sold albums, 8-tracks, and cassettes.  I already knew the rock artists, but I had to learn about country music.  Especially Bob Wills & The Texas Playboys.  They were are number one best seller.  I then started to listen to everything.  Once, I had a customer come in and ask me for the record with a train whistle in it.  I knew that was Willie Nelson, so I got good at identifying songs.  We also got the best display items for the department, because of our high sales.  One in particular was a life-size Steve Martin standee.  It promoted two of his comedy albums.  When the promotion was over, I took the standee.  My distributor was not happy, but I got it anyway.  I still have it, and I think it is the only one in existence.  I also got some promo albums and tapes from working there, and one was of David Bowie.  I really loved his music, even though I had never heard him before. 
 I worked at Sangers for almost 3 years, even going full-time after graduating from seminary.  I stayed in Ft. Worth an extra year to be with my friends.  So much more to talk about that store, and I will in future stories. 

Food Poisoning

 It was the 4th of July weekend in 1976.  Everyone was geared up for the Bicentennial.  On that Friday, I ate in the seminary cafeteria.  For dessert, I had pineapple upside down cake.  A few hours later, I started to feel a little queasy, so I went to the 3rd floor bathroom in the dorm.  Most of the dorm's residents had left for the holiday weekend.  I had nausea.
 I don't want to sound too gross here, but just to say I stayed in the bathroom all night.  I had food poisoning, probably from the eggs in the cake.  I was the sickest I had ever been.  I couldn't keep anything down.  That Saturday morning, I mustered up enough energy to walk from the dorm to the infirmary and found it was closed for the holiday.  I suppose anyone reading this would wonder why I didn't go to the emergency room of a hospital.  I don't know why other than I was so sick I couldn't think straight.  I spent all day Saturday in the bathroom until I passed out from lack of sleep and energy.  Sunday was the 4th of July, and I had made it a point to go to church.  Somehow, I managed to pull myself together and got to church.  I was so weak that I could barely stand up.  I had to pull myself up from the pew just to stand.  After church, I went back to the dorm and continued being sick.
 Now came Monday.  There were no classes on Monday.  I proved to myself that I could drive in the condition I was in, so I drove over to the mall to get to a drug store.  I bought a bottle of Pepto Bismol and went out to my car.  I sat in my car and drank the entire bottle in the parking lot.  Now, I do not suggest that someone do this for food poisoning, but it worked for me.  I was able to eat some crackers and drink some soda.  I got back to some normality and was able to go back to class the next day.  I have a very high metabolism, and I have a hard time putting on weight.  Until 2008, I weighed the same thing I weighed in 8th grade, which was 115 lbs. (I weigh more now)  I am not suggesting than someone who wants to lose weight should try food poisoning.  It is not fun.

SWBTS

 Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SWBTS) was where I chose to get my Master's Degree, so that I could teach Theatre at Anderson College.  That was my plan.  That was my goal.  The school was in Ft. Worth, Texas.  I arrived there around May 20th to begin my studies, which started that summer school.  This was the same school where my parents met some 40 years before and fell in love.  I had something of an advantage, because most of the teachers and staff knew my father and many were his old friends.  I had known many of them too growing up.  It was the perfect place to attend.
 One of the things I had to learn very fast was the Mexican cuisine.  No Del Taco.  This was the real thing.  A friend of mine, also from South Carolina, went to a nearby Jack-in-the-Box and wanted a pickle.  He got a jalapeno pepper, not knowing what it was, and his mouth burned for days.  It may sound strange, but one of the things we were told in orientation was to never make fun of the Hispanic people.  Like not to yell out "Immigration" in a crowded theatre.  That would have the same reaction as yelling out "Fire".  You would have a stampede. 
 The seminary environment was special.  When seeing me coming down the sidewalk, another male would address me as "brother".  It was strange at first, but I got used to it eventually.  For single students that wanted to live on campus, there was Ft. Worth Hall for the men and Barnard Hall for the women.  I lived in room 235 in Ft. Worth Hall.  It was a single room with paint peeling off of the walls.  I had two closets, a desk, and a sink.  The bathroom and showers were down the hall.  I brought several posters with me, which adorned my walls.  We had an open house, and my dorm room was picked as the coolest in the dorm because of all of the posters. 
 I wanted to study to teach Christian Theatre, but there was not a major in that, so I helped them develop a course load for that, and I was the first Communications major at that school.  My main teacher was Paula Brooks, who was the mother of the later PGA golfer Mark Brooks.  More on him later.  Paula and I put together a major using Public Speaking, Acting, TV & Radio, and other courses.  I also took courses in Education and Psychology.  The teachers would talk about church work, and I would mentally substitute the word "church" with "college".  I also had to take some Bible courses, and a couple of music courses.  The Bible courses were very hard.  I wasn't much for learning the Greek word for anything in the Bible, but I muddled through it.  In one of the music courses, I learned to direct a choir and how to pick out notes on a piano.  If you give me a sheet of music now and about an hour, I might be able to play the melody, but it would just be with one finger. 
 All of this story is just an introduction to the seminary.  There will be much more later.  Some good and some really bad.  How bad?  I guess that would be open to interpretation, but it was really bad to me.

The New Adventure

 As written earlier, my goal in life after graduating from college was to get my Master's degree so that I could teach Theatre at Anderson College or some other Christian school.  In order to do that, I decided on going to Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, TX.  Why not go to a university that had an MFA program?  Both of my parents went there, and I was a legacy.  Also, I felt that God was calling me there.
 I saved up my money from working at Belk, and I got a car.  It got to be May, 1976.  I quit my job at Belk, even though they wanted me to stay.  I loaded up my car with my records, stereo, clothes, and started my journey to Ft. Worth.  I had a map from AAA of the optimum route.  It was a little over 1000 miles to get there.  My car had a radio, but I brought along an 8-track tape player that ran on batteries.  I had to replace them each day on my trip, because the player ate the batteries. 
 I was not in any hurry to get out there, as this was the first trip that I would drive by myself for a long distance, so I decided to break it up.  I left Columbia with the love of my parents and drove as far as Selma, AL.  I actually wanted to stop in Montgomery at a motel, but I got in the wrong lane on the bypass and found myself on the road to Selma.  I had not been there since 1968, when my parents and I were on our way to Houston, TX.  I remembered we stopped at a restaurant and heard that Otis Redding had died.  I found a motel on the outskirts of town to stop for the night.  The motel had in-room movies playing on the TV.  I had never seen that before.  That was cool.  I stayed there on subsequent trips.
 My back hurt from all of that driving, but I got up the next morning and continued my journey.  When I got to Mississippi, I found that I-20 was a little different.  There were flowers along the highway, and the color of the asphalt changed in increments.  I figured it was their way of keeping one from falling asleep with the monotony on the road.  I think more states should do that.  I drove across the state, and my back was killing me, so I stopped in Vicksburg for the next night.  My motel was near the Civil War battlefield, so I had a relaxing time walking around there, and being near the river.  Old Man River.  The mighty Mississip. 
 The next day, I got up more rested to continue on.  I drove through my home state of Louisiana on my way to Texas.  I got to Shreveport and noticed something quite weird.  There were lush forests on the Louisiana side, but crossing over into Texas was quite different.  There were no lush forests.  There was flat land with no trees except for shrubs.  It was as though I had gone into another world.  I had.  I drove on a very boring stretch of I-20 that didn't want to seem to end.  Mile after mile of nothing.  I finally had to stop.  I saw a sign that said Tyler and motels, so I exited the highway and drove some more, before finding Tyler, TX.  I stopped for the night at a Ramada.  Apparently, there was some festival in town, so the only room they had was under the bandstand of their ballroom.  All I wanted was a bed.  I took it, but I didn't get much sleep that night.
 I got up the next morning and headed onto Ft. Worth.  When I got to Dallas, I had Janis Joplin blaring on the tape player.  There was a bridge that curved over a highway.  I was looking at the skyline and jamming to the music, and I wasn't paying attention to where I was going.  I almost crashed off of the bridge along the curve.  That woke me up.  I finally got to Ft. Worth and the seminary. 
 After unpacking, I wanted to go downtown to check out the city.  I saw a crowd standing on the street, so I wanted to see what was going on.  The crowd was standing across from a bank, and there were a lot of policemen around there.  It looked like there had been a robbery.  Then, I found out what was really going on.  A man had walked into the bank with a shotgun.  He killed his girlfriend, who was a teller.  He then shot himself in the head with the gun.  His body was lying on the floor of the bank with a sheet over it, and a blood spot where his head had been.  The tourist folders never talked about crime in Ft. Worth.  My first day was welcomed to this sight.  Welcome to Ft. Worth.

The Arrest

 I was working at Belk downtown one Saturday.  I had parked off of Assembly Street.  When I got out of work to head home, I went to my car and started driving on Washington Street heading toward Sumter.  When I got to the corner of Washington and Sumter, the light turned red.  On one side of the corner was the old Richland County courthouse.  On the opposite side was a parking lot.  As was my custom, when I stopped at a light, I would look in my rear view mirror to see if anyone was behind me.  I looked, and there was a two-door car, maybe a Firebird, behind me with two men in the car. 
 All of a sudden, several police officers rushed the car behind me.  Some had pistols and others had shotguns.  Some wore plain clothes and others had uniforms.  I watched in shock as these officers pointed their guns at the two men and ordered them not to move.  I was asking myself what I should do.  It was obvious that the police had used my car and me to block the men from escaping.  They had also controlled the traffic light, which was still red.  On the other hand, if there was going to be any shooting, I didn't want to get caught in the crossfire, so I had to make a decision.  If I got out of the way of the situation, I would be breaking the law by running the red light.  So, I waited until I felt that the situation was stable.  I then turned right from the left lane through the red light and went around the block.  I wanted to see this takedown, but not be in it.
 I rode around the block.  It took no more than three minutes to get around the block, even though I was still shaking from what I had seen.  When I got around the block, the car was gone.  The police had loaded the car into a trailer.  The two men were gone, along with all of the police.  Everything was back to normal.  There was an article in the paper the next day about a big-time drug arrest that had taken place the day before, and I guess that it what I witnessed.  The arrest was very well coordinated.  Some people may say that it could have been a movie being filmed.  There were no cameras.  This was real.