Southern Comfort

Last night as I sat on the couch of my parents’ luxurious two-story house I pondered what the rest of my night was going to look like. Just then I got a phone call from a number that I didn’t recognize. When I answered all I noticed was the thick southern draw and the elongation of the simple, “hey.” I responded as if I knew who it was but it was obvious to the caller that I had no idea, “this is Chad! Alex and I are hanging out and we were wondering if you wanted to do something.” It was two of my good friend from junior high that I hadn’t seen in a long while but had kept in semi-close contact with via facebook. “Yeah I want to do something!” I responded my mind racing of what they looked like now and what they had all been up to. The only thing I did know is that neither of them had gone to college and that they both had jobs that were…well blue collar. “Great we’ll pick you up in just a bit,” Chad said and I raced up stairs to change since I had not left the house all day and was still in my gym shorts. When they arrived I had no idea of what I was going to do or where I was going to go but I knew it was going to be different from my everyday experience.

As I opened the door with excitement written all over my face I found the same written all over theirs. Chad was decked out in his cowboy finest; a new pair of work boots, tight blue jeans, an old, camouflage, baseball cap, and a simple sweatshirt. Alex on the other hand wore the same clothes that I had always remembered hi m in; a hooded jacket, baggy jeans, and a vintage t-shirt. “Where do you want to go?” they asked. I didn’t care I just wanted to get out of the house. So we got in Alex’s truck and drove to new places that I have always been.
We came upon an arcade in a popular spot that I had passed many times but never been in. In the arcade we found “Buck Hunter,” an arcade game in which you actually have to shoot at the screen at deer and get points according to the size of the buck, a game which I had coined myself the looser of before we ever started. But in the midst of playing this game not only did I dominate but I found a new since of joy not only in the game but in a place that I had deemed too low for me to enter. Every time I passed the arcade I never wanted to go in because didn’t want to be bothered by the youngsters who frequented it. But now I was one of those youngsters but I was immensely enjoying the simple pleasure of letting free all of my worries and playing a simple arcade game. I was lost in Galaga and couldn’t even tell you my name if one were to ask me while I was playing. But in my loss of self I found a new self. I found a self that wasn’t worried about tomorrow I was only worried about shooting a space invader attempting to capture my ship.

The next stop was the new super Wal-Mart that had recently graced the main highway of our small Oklahoma town. The grand opening was a few days ago but not many people were visiting the attraction at 1 o’clock in the morning. The first thing that many of us noticed once stepping out of our journey vessel was the array of shopping carts that had seemed to be strewn across the parking lot. After little deliberation we decided that these carts could not be left on attended. The attending to the carts led to us racing and spinning the carts across the wide, vacant lot. All of us gasping, our lungs burning from the cold night air, we kept going and we kept racing our carts back and forth through the parking lot. On these shopping carts in the light of the street lamps I found more comfort in my companions’ enthusiasm for living life without worries of tomorrow. See both of my friends had found fine paying jobs after high school and were employed full time but I didn’t hear them complaining about having to go to work how bad their employers were. All I heard were cheers and laughter for the weekend and for living life the way it was supposed to be lived out.

I have dedicated my blog to my perspective in the hopes that some might find a new way to look at the world but never thought that mine would change in the process. My two friends have shown me some great southern comfort, and no we didn’t consume alcohol in fact Chad made the comment that it was better than drinking. I found southern comfort in my southern friends who at first seemed simply blue collar but pinned on that blue collar was a pin that signified more life experience than I had. In this comfort I found more than enjoyment of life but I found a life of enjoyment. Thank you to my southern comforted friends.