A Rare Night Out

                                               

Well, Amber and I went to see Aaron Watson last night in Brownwood, Texas. Now , before you judge me on what I'm fixin' to say, you need to understand I am a 67 year old who normally doesn't go out and do much of anything, not since my younger young days anyway. First of all before arriving I figured that I would probably be one of the oldest people there....I probably didn't even make the top ten! I would say  that almost every age from about 16 to about 100 was represented. I did have to show my ID as did Amber, giggling as she dug in her purse for about thirty minutes trying to find it.

The closer it got to the main event, the more crowded it became. Amber and I sat on a couple of high stools along the edge of the dance floor (it took both of us about 15 minutes to climb up on them). We never got off those stools the three hours we were there for several reasons; we were afraid we would fall if we tried to get down, it was so crowded there wasn't room on the floor to put your feet and we were afraid we would never get our stools back if we got up. I sat on that stool so long I lost the feeling in my feet. One thing I think I did accomplish was to stretch my bladder, this had to be the longest I have gone in years without having to visit the Boy's Room (Especially after having a beer or two). As for Amber, I'm sure I witnessed a miracle or at least a personal record on her part for not going to the "Potty", although she just sipped on one Diet DP all night (Another record).

It was so crowded that 95% of the people there were standing. It took so long to get a drink or a beer there were folks standing with two and some with three beers in their hands so they wouldn't have to get back in line for a while longer. The music was so loud people were standing with their faces six inches apart yelling at each other and still not having any idea what the other one was saying. One good thing was I yelled stuff at Amber all night and she just smiled at me (It was a cute smile). The music was so loud you could feel the front of your shirt vibrating. The force of the music was so powerful, I turned and looked into the bar mirror once and all the wrinkles on my face were gone. Can you imagine a band putting out enough sound to fill Jerry Jones' Cowboy World pumping that same amount of sound into a hundred year old rock and brick building in Brownwood, Texas.

Finally, with Aaron still playing, I wasn't going to torture my hearing, my sanity or my bladder any further and as I turned to Amber I could tell without her saying a word, it was time to leave (Well, it was time to find the potty and then leave). We were finally able to slide off our stools and find the floor. My legs weren't working very well and I would have probably fallen to the floor had it not been for all the bodies pressed against me (Like Sardines in a can except standing upright). I grabbed Amber's hand and we were off at a snail's pace in search of a rest room. As we bounced through the crowd like old steel balls in a pinball machine, I noticed that most of the men would try to make room for you to pass but the majority of the women folk stood their precious ground, with beers in both hands not yielding an inch. That's when Amber took over the lead position and we immediately started making better time.

Still not able to find the rest rooms I asked a person by yelling at the top of my lungs if he could point the way to the rest rooms. Just as I yelled, the song ended and there was about twenty people who turned and looked at me and then pointed to the rest room signs up stairs. Yep there they were, up two flights of stairs with people standing against the hand rail on both sides leaving about a foot of room in the middle to climb the steep stairs and not be able to hang on to the hand rail. This is when my survival instincts kicked in, I grabbed Amber's hand and took over the lead. I ducked my head so as to not make eye contact with anyone, male or female, and plowed my way up the two flights of stairs pulling Amber in the wake of parted bodies behind me.

Finally, REST ROOMS! As I squeezed in I saw it, a two holer with about fourteen guys. To get so close only be set back by more disappointment. I looked down at the floor, and it crossed my mind, "If I went on the floor, it doesn't look like I would be the first!" But, somehow I made it to the head of the line or should that be line of the head, and all was well, except the young man behind me seemed to take offense as to the length of time I took.

Amber and I walked out of our respective facilities about the same time, smiled, hugged and continued our battle through the maze of upright bodies until we finally arrived at the front door. As the front door opened and the cool, fresh air of the outside world hit us in the face, the big guy standing at the door said, "If you leave now, you won't be able to get back in!"

To which I said, "Thank you!"