The Gate

When I was a kid, I had this amazing group of friends....y'all have heard about them before.

I hardly talk to any of them anymore, but it was worth it, yo.

There was this place called The Gate where we used to hang out. We called it The Gate because that's what it was. There was a road with nothing on it except for this field. And then a gate. It was the best bar around.

The parking lot was for one, made of gravel.
The bathroom was a cattle guard.
The music came from the stereo in the truck.
The chairs were a tailgate and the sides of the bed.
The beer ....*ahem*...soda was warm.

We laughed and sang and danced and then we went home.

The one night I remember best, there were three of us couples, only all of us had just broken up. We were trying to figure out if we should all just get back together because it sorta stunk not being part of a couple. So we did. If only relationships could be fixed so easily when we're older.

One night, we met on a dirt road (and I'm not sure if this was anywhere near The Gate) to shoot fireworks with my best friend's parents. Till my one cousin (you know, the one cousin...the one we all have???) shot someone in the pants with a roman candle and we all got in trouble.

There was another night when there were some major tornadoes. May 1999, to be exact. It was awesome. We were all "storm chasers" back then, so we loaded six of us up in my boyfriend's tiny little car and went out. We knew we were right near what they were calling an F4 (That stands for Really Frickin Big One), but we couldn't see it because there was this huge cloud covering the sky that was blocking our view. When the lightening lit up behind the cloud, we were all, "Uh....that's not a big cloud...." And we drove the other way.

Only by then, someone had to pee. I don't remember who this person was....at all. We were in the middle of nowhere and it was raining like crazy and we also still need to run from the Giant Tornado of Doom, so, without going into too much detail, it was decided that the person in question would lean against the back of the car and go potty while everyone else just stayed inside. Only this person's boyfriend thought it would be really funny to keep moving the car every few seconds so that she fell over and also almost got tornado-ized.

That's why she married someone else less than a year later. And that's a whole different story.
The End.

Life Goal #15

What's up with texting?

I personally love it, but still. Is it just me or does it seem rude just to call someone anymore? I don't ever get phone calls anymore unless the person has texted me first to ask if it's ok if they call me. Of course it's ok! Didn't you call me every frickin day until last year when I finally got text on my phone? What's changed?

I mean, I don't mind if people ask before they call me, it's just that it weirds me out. Do I strike you as the type of person who would end our friendship over a spontaneous phone call? Is there something dark in my eyes that warns of certain death if you catch me off guard with the phone ringing with no preceding text tone?

Cell phones have changed our etiquette more than I can keep up with. I just don't get it anymore. Now I text all my friends before I call them, too, just in case I missed a rule somewhere. I don't want to throw off any one's day with an unscheduled phone call, even though it also seems to be appropriate to answer your phone no matter what you are doing. You know how they have those computer classes to teach the older generation how to use Windows or whatever? I think they should have celly etiquette classes for....well, young people like me who don't know what the hell is going on anymore.

Enough of that, I just sound old and mean now, which, Life Goal #15? Check.

On the way home today...

Huston: You just aren't rough on the cars, which is why you got stuck in the snow that one time and had to have Uncle Robby help.

Me: That's because I'm a lady.

Huston: Well, sometimes you have to be rough to stay alive, so...good luck with your life, lady.