SOMETIMES, EVEN OLD WOMEN ARE OFFERED DRINKS


About once a week, Paddy and I love to visit Wanna Wanna, a beach bar about a 20-minute walk from my condo in South Padre.  It would take us less time to get there, but Paddy delights in investigating and urinating on every bit of seaweed stranded on the beach.  I love this bar because it reminds me of Islamorada in the Florida Keys, which I frequently visited when I lived in South Florida. Heck, the entire island reminds me of the Keys and is one of the main reasons I love being here during the winter. I miss everything about South Florida, so South Padre eases that yearning to return. The other reason is that I don’t have to worry about dislocating my hip after falling on ice like I did in February 2021. The last time South Padre Island had snow was two inches in 2004, and no ice storms have been reported. The average temperature in January is 61. This January, we had many 70-degree days.

I’m not one for going to bars alone, but I’m not alone with Paddy in tow.  Besides, his beauty, sweetness, and docile attitude draw people to him. I doubt people are drawn to me similarly, but my hidden introversion probably sends signals to stay away. Spontaneous conversations usually follow with sharing information about Paddy (“What is he?”) and where everyone is from.  I’m usually the only Texan in the bar, as everyone else is from Iowa, Wisconsin, Ohio, Nebraska, etc.  You get the picture.  South Padre Beach is the place of choice in the winter for Midwesterners, much like Palm Beach County in the winter for people from NYC.  When I lived in South Florida and managed rehab facilities, I had to deal with demanding New Yorkers, who are a lot like Texans in their arrogance and obnoxiousness.  The Midwesterners visiting here are polite and friendly.

I realized today that the last several times I was in the bar, I was offered a drink.  I’m a lightweight when it comes to drinking and can nurse my one drink that I order upon arrival for two hours or longer.  I never want more than one drink, although the offer is always nice.  Recently, I started talking with a man who shared his experiences growing up as a migrant worker.  His family would follow the crops from the Lower Rio Grande Valley to Idaho every year until his father decided they could stay home in the Valley all year long because there was enough work to feed his family. He told me about a job he loved for 40 years, then being forced into retirement in his early 50s.  He kept offering to buy me a drink, and I kept refusing until I finally accepted some water.  I didn’t know where the conversation was going, but I do know when it stopped.  He shared that he had an RV parked in Port Isabel because he liked to fish.  His wife didn’t like to fish, so she stayed in their home in McAllen.

So, about five minutes after the mention of his wife, I excused myself.  Maybe I’ve still got “it.” I know; I’m delusional.  Just give me a few minutes…





 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

DR MCELROY AND TEXAS A&M

Image
  I’ve lived my life with integrity, compassion, and honesty.  I don’t back down from a controversial subject and will always speak out against injustice and prejudice.  I received many benefits from being White, although I was still short-shafted regarding equal pay as a woman.   Case in point: I was replaced by two men when I retired from overseeing a 36-bed rehabilitation hospital and 6 outpatient clinics serving children through adults. The man who replaced me had great difficulty managing the inpatient rehabilitation services. Hence, the Healthcare System overseeing the services promoted a male physical therapist to manage the outpatient facilities.  Each of the men was paid more than I.  It’s probably not a stretch to guess that had I been a person of color with the same credentials, I would not have been hired, and doubly so if I had been a woman of color with the same credentials.   A tenured UT journalism professor was recently recruited to Texas A&M to kick-start their jo
Read more

MY LIFE WITH TERI FLANAGAN

Image
  (Teri authored a story about me entitled "My Life with Dana Rushing" in the local newspaper after I moved from Horseshoe Bay to Austin. It was a total surprise and touched me beyond words. She is now in hospice at a facility in Marble Falls. Teri's husband has given me permission to publish this story. It will be in The Beacon this week.) I’m incredibly fortunate to have a friend I could call to assist me with the various projects I began or coordinated while living in Horseshoe Bay for five years. Other friends also answered my call to action, but Teri was always the first one I contacted because I was confident she would agree to help. Teri once said when she saw my name on her caller ID, she knew I wasn’t calling to chat and that she was being recruited for another project. Still, Teri answered my call. Teri is a talented artist and an avid reader. Her beautiful painting of a colorful donkey hangs in my home. A burnt orange wooden walking stick David made helps k
Read more

ROSA PARKS AND THE DREAM

Image
I dreamed of Rosa Parks last night.  She was sitting in a seat in the middle of a bus with Black men sitting on both sides of her.  I figured they were bodyguards and had joined her after news got out that this 'uppity Black woman' had dared to take her place amongst the Whites. The days of sitting in the back of the bus were over for her.  She worked long, hard days at low wages for a white family and had to take a bus every...damn...day.  Her great-grandparents had been slaves.  Enough was enough.   She felt she earned something more than a seat at the back of the bus.   She didn't know that this small act would set up a firestorm of millions of people being emboldened by her.  More and more people began speaking out, demonstrating, and even rioting to bring civil rights to the forefront.  The battle continued until, at last, civil rights passed.  Racism became somewhat more subtle over 50 years. But the Rosa Parks I saw in my dreams is still in that seat.
Read more