SO FAR SO GOOD

So far so good on the food front.  Breakfast was great, no bacon though.  Lunch and dinner were also good; any food is at this point.  They have come back out fast, to the point of getting close to spilling the ostomy bag a couple of times but so far no disasters.  Just have to keep a close eye on it.  No stomach pain or indigestion so I’m hopeful.  Dr. S says well keep this up as long as there are no pain issues.  He is out for a week or two starting Friday but I’m sure he will stay in touch.  I really feel like he and I are on the same page and have kind of bonded.  Never had that with a doctor before but these is special circumstances and special doctors.

I was thinking about some of the concerts we discussed recently and thought of a couple of stories I’d like to tell you.  Call them life lessons from rock n roll shows. They are in chronological order but don’t ask me for the dates.

Lesson One:  Remain Calm, Don’t Lose Your Cool

Several of us were at an all day festival at Riverside Raceway, a drag strip in Nashville at the time.  The stage was at one end of a strip of land bordered by the raceway on one side, the interstate on the other and the parking area in the back.  There were probably 2-3 thousand people there.  Main band was Focus, they of the yodeling song “Hocus Pocus”.  There were several other bands the biggest being Blue Oyster Cult, not a great band but I like their songs and they put on a good show, in this case complete with a blanket set on fire by the crowd.  So anyway the concert started in the early afternoon, sunny day but not hot.  Music was good and all was right with the world until three soldiers from Fort Campbell started flaunting their dope smoking to some of the policemen present. 

At about that same time there was an announcements that some cars had to be moved, one of which belonged to my friend Sam.  I went back to the parking lot with Sam and upon arriving at the parking lot we found ourselves on what appeared to the set of an action movie with police cars flying into the lot and sliding to a stop.  Policemen with shot guns drawn were jumping from the cars and heading toward the crowd.  One actually paused and looked directly at me, gun raised.  I stood rock still and he turned and headed toward the raceway.  Sam, who unfortunately was not unfamiliar with local law enforcement, decided that he would move his car and self home.  I agreed that was probably the best course of action and headed back to the concert grounds but not without some degree of trepidation.

After the short walk back I scanned the crowd but didn’t see any of my friends.  There was still a big hub-bub going on in the center of the field but nothing like a riot or mob.  It appeared that the soldiers involved in the earlier incident were being arrested and carted off but something still seemed to under discussion.  Looking around I saw a girl sitting alone at the edge of the field leaning on an ice chest and watching the show so I wandered over to see what she knew.  Boy did she know.  It seems that during the confrontation over the mockery of the policemen some unknown person surreptitiously slipped the radio out of one of the policeman’s belt and made off with it.  The policeman in question did not react well.  He put out an “all call”, every available car to the scene of the crime.  Thus my brief encounter with the gun wielding officer on the imitation movie set.  I assume the arriving officers considered the missing radio a less than critical incident and things calmed down and eventually the show went on.  I inquired of the girl who had obviously been carefully monitoring events if she had any idea what happened to the radio.  She looked at me, smiled and patted the ice chest.  I returned the smile and went to find my friends.

Lesson Two:  Be Yourself, You Look Silly When You Don’t

Some of you may remember an HBO series from several years back called Def Comedy Jam.  It was produced by Russell Simmons and featured, primarily, black comedians.  Great show and I was a regular watcher.  Eventually they took the show on the road and one stop was at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center (TPAC) in Nashville.  Kathi and I got tickets for us and a couple of friends (yes black friends).  After dinner we arrived at TPAC and headed for the theater.  As I expected most of the black folks in attendance, which was the vast majority, were dressed to the nines.  Most of us white folk in regular duds.  The ushers and ticket takers were all in uniform and as always most of the ticket takers were elderly white men.  As we entered the theater I handed my ticket to the elder in charge of my line.  He turned to me and in his best Rev. Jackson voice said “Welcome, my brother”.  I managed not to laugh in front of him but just barely.

Lesson Three: Don’t Be Judgmental and Afraid of People for No Reason

A few years ago we returned to TPAC for a performance for Arlo Guthrie.  I forgot to put that one in my concert list but it was memorable for some of the other folks in attendance.  I failed to get tickets in a timely fashion for the show so we wound up on the back row.  Fortunately this is a welled planned facility so the back row is still not a bad seat.  We were a bit early and took our seats with four empty seats to my left and four to Kathi’s right.  It seems that since this was a predominantly white crowd I was no longer the brother of the ticket taker, at least I remember no such greeting.

A few minutes later a middle aged couple with two teenaged kids arrived and took their seats next to Kathi.  The show started a few minutes later.  Several songs into the set I turned to see four bikers coming in to occupy the seats to my left.  They were making no effort to be quiet and the couple to our right turned to watch them sit down and then turned to each other and muttered.  I could also see the young usher at the entrance watching as these guys took their seats.  Now I called them bikers and they were.  Long hair, black leather, tattoos but also freshly washed and the leather was clean and shiny not ragged.  There was a tag on the jacket but I don’t recall the name.  Basically they looked like guys who liked the biker image but by no means did they appear threating. One of them pulled out a bottle of Jack Daniel’s and passed it down the line.  They guy next to me offered me some which I declined because I don’t care for whiskey.  He smiled and nodded and passed it back down.  It crossed my mind to take the bottle and offer it to the gentleman to Kathi’s right just for the fun of it but the look on his face told me that might not be such a hot idea.  Indeed about that time he rose and took his family out.  I don’t know where they went but I do remember that they went the long way out of the row to avoid the “bikers”.  The most fun was when one of the guys lit a cigarette, which of course is prohibited.  The young usher came up behind him and learned over presumably to inform him that smoking was not allowed.  The offender turned and stared and the usher never actually spoke, just backed away.  I had to smile.  I don’t know where he put out the butt.  He may have been a total ass and burned the carpet.  And I’m not defended these guys actions but they weren’t a threat and both the usher and the couple appeared to me to be afraid, not offended.  The couple getting up to leave was spoiling their own night for absolutely no reason. They would have suffered no ill effects by staying for the rest of the show.  I suspect that at the bar after the show these guys would have been a lot of fun; sure as hell a lot more fun than the couple.  I know that stood and applauded loudly for the “Motorcycle Song”.  It appeared to be the only reason they came. 

Boone