I did it again...

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I was at a wedding over the weekend in Davis, at the UC Davis Arboretum.

After the dinner festivities, folks were out dancing on the patio, and I noticed the groom's father and his wife were sitting alone. Having heard him give the toast, I knew he had quite a drawl...

I did the right thing, walked over and asked if I could join them, despite, as Mr. Bernard Shaw said, we were "...two peoples separated by a common language." He laughed and said "sure!"

Yes, I know GBS was talking about the Brits and the Americans.

He told me they were from Georgia and had a second house in Florida. That should have been a warning. I mean, that's like having one house in Elko and a second in Winnemucca.

Then he asked me if I ever ate gator tail. I said no, but my wife suggested that it tasted like chicken- and she said it over her shoulder as she fled the scene.

Then he asked if I liked shark. I said it was my favorite team. Black Shark? I said (Mike) Grier is one of my favorite Sharks.

He looked at me blankly.

He went on to tell me that this was their last trip west, that they had driven across the top of the country, the Badlands, the national parks, and Vancouver and Victoria.

I said, "I love Vancouver and Victoria!" He said, "Well, Victoria. You know the best thing about Victoria? No blacks, just like Atlanta 30 years ago!" While he was saying THAT, his wife was commenting that "you can't see them at night."

I looked at him with a blank face and said, "Who serves the food?"

He didn't get it.

Then he said, "You know, your Pac-10 boys don't know nuthin' about football, not like our SEC boys do."

"Hey! What's the name of that one team? Initials. Hmmm. Oh, U-S-C! They've done ok..."

At that point, somebody decided it was too hot on the patio, and we were going back inside.

I go back to my group and find out that there was a reason they were sitting alone, which, by now, of course, I already effen knew! Estranged father, a la Joe Jackson, bigot, braggard, hot air balloon.

He did tell me that Joel Chandler Harris, the man who penned the "Uncle Remus" stories, which Disney ultimately turned into "Song of the South", was born in his hometown.

What a surprise.

And no more sitting at tables against my better judgement.

SRT