Brad Olson
TVWBB Diamond Member
I spent last weekend out of town, and as I'm wont to do in that sort of situation I picked out a couple of local places to eat along the way.
The first stop was at a Bar & Restaurant in an unincorporated community. When I parked I noticed a fair amount of vehicles in the lot, but that's not at all uncommon on at 3:15 on a Friday in Wisconsin. I opened the door and heard people talking and laughing, so I stepped inside. The room went dead. Pin drop quiet. There were probably about a dozen customers in there and *every single one* of them shut up and turned to look, and I knew what they were thinking.
"Who's this stranger?" "Never seen this guy before." "What's he doing here?" "Clearly he can steal our women if he wants." And so forth. If you're familiar with the classic Western movie "Rio Bravo", it was very much like the scene where Dude (Dean Martin) walks into the saloon in search of the outlaw (except I didn't shoot anybody). I just went up to the bar and ordered a bowl of chili and a soda, ate at a tall table, took my dirty dishes back to the bar, and left a hefty tip before I headed out the door. I have a strong suspicion that before long I'll be the local "stranger in town" legend that'll last for decades.
I also had a B&R picked out for Monday and I got there at 11:15, which was 15 minutes after it opened, and I was thinking there was a good chance I'd be one of the first customers of the day and might even have the place to myself. Because it was *Monday*. At *11:15am*.
Boy, was I wrong. There had to be close to 20 senior citizens in there. It looked like an AARP Lifetime Achievement Awards ceremony. And they weren't gumming lukewarm chicken ala king, either. Beers and drinks were lined up down the bar and the bluehairs were whooping it up 2 and 3 deep at the gaming machines, feeding them dollar bills as fast as they could. Imagine the movie "Cocoon" times a thousand. On *Monday*. At *11:15am*. I picked a table off to the side and just took it all in while I waited for my lunch. It was absolutely 100% not what I expected to see but it wasn't necessarily a bad thing...I can see myself behaving exactly that way when I get to that age. If I'm not dead.
So it was a good trip.
The first stop was at a Bar & Restaurant in an unincorporated community. When I parked I noticed a fair amount of vehicles in the lot, but that's not at all uncommon on at 3:15 on a Friday in Wisconsin. I opened the door and heard people talking and laughing, so I stepped inside. The room went dead. Pin drop quiet. There were probably about a dozen customers in there and *every single one* of them shut up and turned to look, and I knew what they were thinking.
"Who's this stranger?" "Never seen this guy before." "What's he doing here?" "Clearly he can steal our women if he wants." And so forth. If you're familiar with the classic Western movie "Rio Bravo", it was very much like the scene where Dude (Dean Martin) walks into the saloon in search of the outlaw (except I didn't shoot anybody). I just went up to the bar and ordered a bowl of chili and a soda, ate at a tall table, took my dirty dishes back to the bar, and left a hefty tip before I headed out the door. I have a strong suspicion that before long I'll be the local "stranger in town" legend that'll last for decades.
I also had a B&R picked out for Monday and I got there at 11:15, which was 15 minutes after it opened, and I was thinking there was a good chance I'd be one of the first customers of the day and might even have the place to myself. Because it was *Monday*. At *11:15am*.
Boy, was I wrong. There had to be close to 20 senior citizens in there. It looked like an AARP Lifetime Achievement Awards ceremony. And they weren't gumming lukewarm chicken ala king, either. Beers and drinks were lined up down the bar and the bluehairs were whooping it up 2 and 3 deep at the gaming machines, feeding them dollar bills as fast as they could. Imagine the movie "Cocoon" times a thousand. On *Monday*. At *11:15am*. I picked a table off to the side and just took it all in while I waited for my lunch. It was absolutely 100% not what I expected to see but it wasn't necessarily a bad thing...I can see myself behaving exactly that way when I get to that age. If I'm not dead.
So it was a good trip.
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