Sunday, August 23, 2009

The Social Risk Of Hats In The Great American West

Heading out of Reno on my way to Elko, dressed in my Elko-appropriate Western attire, I stopped at the truck stop in Fernley for road coffee. In the fast food section, there was a genuine bona fide cowboy. Old, weathered, droopy mustache, the real deal. I noticed he was watching me. I felt pretty good. I was passing. He thought I looked like one of the guys. As I walked past him, he mutterd a word of advice, "hat's back-ards."

6 comments:

Catherine said...

Well, at least he "muttered" it instead of loudly announcing it! Why hasn't anyone taken picture of you in this outfit? Inquiring minds want to see!

Unknown said...

ROTFL!

I met one of those buckaroos out on a ranch near Austin, NV. He had a droopy orange moustache and three teeth. He was rolling and lighting cigarettes in a 30 knot wind as he hunkered down to chat with us. We asked him about Range cubes for the winter and he said, "You'll have to talk with the boss about that. I'm only hired on here from the shoulders down." They are a different breed for sure. Unforgettable.

Bishop Dan said...

Real cowboys always mutter when they are inside and sober. There were plenty of pics of me in my Elko attire last convention when my entire wardrobe came from J. M. Capriola's home of the Garcia Bit and Spur Co. in Elko. I never miss the National Cowboy poetry gathering there. I stay at the Gold County Inn because it has matching moose designs on the curtains and bedpsreads.

Rick+ said...

     Oh, funny! I'm not sure I would know the difference.

Unknown said...

"CROSSING [those artificial] DENOMINATIONAL LINES" = HOWDY! There are two gentle-men in my life who deserve some added prayer, please? FIRST, a senior United Methodist Church [UMC] minister at First UMC in San Diego, CA - Dr. JIM STANDIFORD who is recovering successfully from inplant of some stents in heart recently! [Jim and I go back to his pastorate @ St. Andrew UMC in Santa Maria, CA in Northern Santa Barbara County - 1976-78 during my defense contractor work @ nearby Vandenberg AFB - but we've stayed in touch]. SECOND, the sad passing of former (emeritus) Fuller Theological Seminary - Pasadena, CA systematic theology Professor RAY S. ANDERSON who lived & worked mostly at Fuller's Orange County campus. Ray had been on dialysis for some time, but his on- and off-campus work "lives on" - after a fashion - through his continuing education classes in Systematic Theology [via School of Theology trilogy #ST-512, -514 and -516]. N.B., however -- Fuller's once vaunted Bookstore seems somehow "in a funk" now. Its employees now consider Ray's classes & his book lists "as being proprietary material" - for any reasons still unknown! WIERD!!!! Really wierd! MAYBE those local employees need prayers, too! Since inquiries of Fuller President's Office [Dr. Richard Mouw] have not resulted in any responses nor any timely clarifications! Strange, indeed! NOT to Fuller I which 'knew' from prior distance learning classes completed fully a decade ago.

Unknown said...

HAD A RECNT "UPDATE" FROM Dr. JIM STANDIFORD - the Senior Minister @ The fIRST United Methodist Church in San Diego [see above post on prayer requests]! "The RASCAL" had survived three{!} heart attacks. In his note, JIM thanked all who prayed, since HE FELT THE POWER IN THOSE DARK TIMES. He's now at home, recovering and doing well. THANKS TO ALL WHO OFFERED PRAYER FOR HIM!