Memphis. Sunday at lunch time. Cracker Barrel.
Our name was called, so we were the baby ducks following Mama Duck Hostess through the maze of tables. Suddenly she stops and we're just clogging up the aisles - apparently our table wasn't quite ready. Oops. I was feeling awkward - just standing there in the aisle - and I saw a rocking chair, so I sat down - mainly to get out of the way. Until then, I didn't see the man sitting in the other rocking chair - across the checker board from me. I had unwittingly challenged what appeared to be an octogenarian to a battle! He leaned over his folded up walker and accepted the challenge, "It's your move."
So, I picked up a checker and moved it. A twinkle appeared in his eyes - eyes that, by my estimation, have seen many days and many stories. "I'm not very good," he admitted. "Oh, uh, me neither," I said, unsuccessfully attempting to convey that I wasn't even sure of all the rules.
He corrected me when I tried to ignore a "jump" that I had to take. Eventually, it got down my two "kinged" pieces and his two "kinged" pieces plus one "non-kinged" piece. I was able to run down his "non-kinged" piece and he let out a frustrated monosyllabic disapproval of his own efforts. Then he looked up and said, "It's a draw. When you have two kings each, it's a draw game." "Oh, okay." I was undefeated!
We chatted for a few minutes: I told him I was from middle-Tennessee and he told me about a time he had visited Franklin - and that it was very nice. He then started talking about some Memphis-area politician, but I couldn't really hear him well because his voice wasn't strong enough to overpower the after-church crowd's volume. I got that his name was Lenny and then I went and joined my friends who had already ordered my pancakes and bacon for me.
After we finished eating, I noticed that Lenny was eating by himself. So, I went and patted him on the back and said that it was nice to meet him. He grabbed me by the arm and gave me a tourist tip:
"While you're here, you should visit the Forrest Memorial. You know who that is?"
"Yes."
"Well, it's very nice - you should pay it a visit. Did you know I was born on July 21st?"
"The 21st, you say?"
"You know what happened that day?"
"No sir, I don't."
"That's the day we started the war - the First Battle of Manassas. If General Forrest had gotten to Manassas, we would've won the war."
[Pause]
"Well, it was nice to meet you."
Just to complete the picture, about 75% of the patrons and employees that day were African-American.
I haven't done much fact-checking on his claim, but that's not really the point.
To say we're now a "post-racial" nation is, I think, naive and incorrect.
1 comment:
When Sheryl and I went to Florida a few years back, we stopped in Montgomery, AL for lunch. We had an older gentleman at the table next to us, who also chatted us up some. At one point, he also asked us where we were from. After we told him, he said, "you know the best thing about Tennessee? Y'all killed the two kings." As I looked quizzically at him, he clarified, "Martin Luther King and Elvis."
We didn't feel like getting into a discussion with him about Elvis committing suicide and we left. We did take the opportunity to tell Kinsey the story of Rosa Parks for the next 30 minutes.
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