Posted by
Sam Heath on Wednesday, September 06, 2006 12:51:59 PM
An article I wrote some time ago for our local paper The Kern Valley Sun was entitled “Barflies: An endangered species.” This came about because of my being in attendance while a couple of young attractive women were rousted by police at one of the local pubs. I had become acquainted with the girls before the cops arrived, but the vice cops were making the rounds here in the valley at the time, and while the girls were not “soliciting” it turns out the cops had been sicced on them by a disgruntled barroom Romeo whose unwanted advances were rejected by the young women.
But all the pubs in the valley were being subjected to these “visits” by vice cops at this time due to some kind of “crackdown” being ordered from on high. And I had to wonder whether some of the rousts were not due to some of the local girls turning down the unwanted advances of more than just barroom Romeos? Would a cop actually go so far as soliciting some of these girls by way of enticement? Or could a couple of them actually be looking? Unthinkable!
Ok, so maybe not all that unthinkable. But the whole thing caused me to come home and write the article. A good friend even made a poster with two cartoon flies drinking through straws from martini glasses and I handed them out to all the local bars. The caption read, “We thank you for your patronage and your support of this endangered species: Barflies!”
Alas, some of the good people in the valley failed to see the humor of my article; some even questioning my Christian credentials. To my critics I answered Jesus must have appreciated a good time what with providing those many gallons of wine for that marriage feast in Cana. And no, it wasn’t grape juice as many of my good Baptist friends would have it. When the fellow in charge of the ceremonies pronounced the wine (Greek: oinos) Jesus provided better than what they had been drinking previously he wasn’t comparing grape juice.
Eventually this episode became a chapter in my book Birds With Broken Wings, in which I suggested politicians would do well to get out and mingle with the people frequenting bars if they really wanted to become acquainted with an honest “Slice of life.” And I mean the kinds of bars far removed from those in Georgetown, Kennebunkport, or the song “Cocktails for Two,” bars like Trout’s in Oildale or those here in the Kern River Valley.
However, I had an edge over most politicians doing “field work” of this nature. Being tall and handsome as well as playing guitar and singing in some of the clubs gave me a distinct advantage while writing the book, and while some are tall and handsome there aren’t that many politicians that can successfully mingle in the bars by playing guitar and singing. More’s the pity.
I loved playing clarinet and tenor sax and did so for many years, but guitar must have been in my genes or a product of Little Oklahoma. However, playing the clubs and coffeehouses of the 60s in SoCal was far removed from the “education” I was to gain by playing some of the cuttin’ ‘n’ shootin’ honkytonks. Politicians need a strong dose of this kind of education.
So my “credentials” for writing as I do are more than that of the academic or strictly literary person. But if politicians have lost touch with the reality of how We the People suffer as a consequence of their decisions not a little of this lost contact has to do with their not getting out there and mingling with real Americans living their real lives in the face of so much adversity. And the folks in the bars should have the ears of politicians ever as much as those one finds in the churches. In point of fact, while I love the rural churches of America as being representative of the Real America I don’t discount that part of the Real America to be found in bars as well.