Yesterday I was standing in the side yard of my new West Elmira home listening to my 11-year-old son wail about his bicycle being stolen…again. Funny thing is, we lived in the “ghetto” south-side for almost 18 years and only had a bike stolen once. Moved to the “better” side of town and have had 3 bikes stolen in 6 months, once being taken down off bike hooks in the garage! Anyway, my long time friend, Jason Kirk was riding by on his recumbent bike and spotted me in the yard. We chatted for awhile about old times, his days of playing bass in the band “Glasshead” and exhauting tours. As he reminisced about playing in different states, he remembered being lost in Georgia. He walked into an establishment with his long hair hanging, a 6′3″, skinny, white boy with New York license plates. He approached a man working there and simply asked for directions. The man said, “boy, you better get your damn yankee ass outta here”. Jason kindly informed the man that his grandparents were from France and if he really wanted to be technical, he had some Native American in him and could ask him to leave his country! The man rudely told him to take his yankee ass next door, maybe they would tell him something. All I could think was that maybe the people next door were worse and would have a shotgun waiting for him. But, Jason, creative and witty as he is, thought of a different approach. He pulled his long hair up inside his hat, which he put on backwards. He walked in the place and using the most exaggerated drawl he could, he asked a man for directions, saying he was with a country band to gain his friendship. The man willingly began to give Jason directions, commenting back on Jason’s drawn out explanation of how he ended up there. Until….he spotted the bus with New York license plates! As anyone who knows Jason would know, he quickly had it covered. He blamed it on his “real” bus breaking down in New York and having to drive this wretched vehicle back south. The man fell for the story and finally gave up the directions. Jason let his hair down and headed home….where he plans on staying!
Tags: Friends —
June 17th, 2009 at 1:06 pm
Go Jason, I like a guy who gets er done!