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curious thoughts and remembrances

Sunday, October 12, 2003

Saturday night 

Saturday night, I went with a few friends to a bar called something like "Club de Calenta" or something like that, on Cesar Chavez, East of I-35. A trip. Two gringos, a gringa, and an Indian... walking into a bar where no other gringos, gringas, or Indians were spending their evenings.

The jukebox blasted fast Latin beats programmed on drum machines with accordians singing along. A couple couples danced. The man/woman ratio was about 9/1. Cowboy hats. Boots. Tank tops. Hair spray. An APD officer playing bouncer. Bud Light, Corona, no Dos Equis. "Bandamax" on the big-screen TV playing music videos that were filmed somewhere between the Mexican countryside and the Hill Country. Two tall, voluptuous transvestites in black leather(vinyl?) dresses standing in the corner throwing balled-up napkins at a few young men. The bathrooms read "Hombres" and "Damas". The hombre was a squat fellow with a thick mustache, white tank top, tattoo on his arm, and bushy eyebrows. The dama was a sexed-up Virgin Mary. I felt uncomfortable.

I'll admit it and be disappointed in myself for it, but I thought there was a fair-to-middlin' chance I could get my ass kicked walking in there. My attire didn't help my awkwardness: brown leather retro tennis shoes, jeans that flare at the bottom, a wide-collar, form-fitted button-up shirt, shaggy hair, and a sign that read "I am hip" taped to my back. Ok, the last part isn't true. You walk into a place with a cop playing bouncer, you stick out like a sore thumb, you might get a whuppin', right?

But the discomfort passed. A couple of 40-something men in cowboy hats were nothing but smiles with us, asking "You're leaving???" in an oh-so-genuine tone when we got up. One waitress kept smiling at me as she passed (I think it was the jeans with the flare that got her). And I really dug the tunes and the music videos. It turned out to be a good time. Next time maybe I'll get the nerve to dance to some accordian tunes with one of the regulars. I bet those transvestites would have accepted the invitation. Maybe the waitress.

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