The one night I hit all those Polish bars, I popped into this bowling alley to see if it had a bar, and since it did, I had a drink there.
The bartender was this (older) (white) woman, but much of the clientele was hispanic, with even a few African-Americans here and there, and when I got there, she and these two (Latina) women were discussing the merits of Cedric the Entertainer.
Both had seen him twice, and agreed that he recycled too much material.
Later, this one kind of lanky baby-faced Latino kid with a bright red baseball cap and a hoodie left everyone, since he had to get to school, and as he was leaving she called him over and gave him a hug across the counter.
"Now you get home, you have school tomorrow!", she was like, and he mumbled something about how it was only 9pm.
"But by the time you get home and get ready for bed, it'll be ten, and you have to be up at six for school, so git!", she was like.
Later, I talked with her, and she told me not only about what an asshole the previous mayor was and how unions in this state have it too good, but also about growing up on this farm in north-central Wisconsin, and how because of that she was more like her parents' generation than her own, and she grew up in a farmhouse with a pump and an outhouse, and went to a one-room schoolhouse that only got merged into a county school for the 1st time when she was in high school.
"Me and Johnny Patoshek [sp.?]," she was like, laughing, talking about the other kid in her grade.
She also said that one time her and her dad were in a truck going down a county road around November right before hibernation time, and there was this old fat bear in the middle of the road, and her dad honked the horn at it, but it started sleepily running "boozha boozha boozha" down the road, its fat shaking everywhere, and since her dad was a smart ass, he followed it, even nudging its butt with the front of his truck now and then.
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Friday, October 26, 2012
Best part of volunteering in Wisconsin this past week.
One of my friends showed up hung over, so I had fun mentioning to the fieldstaff and volunteers I knew that he was hung over, but was so dedicated, that he came.
The one older (white) woman with the Wisconsin accent who had once told me she got invited up on a porch to have a beer with some (African-American) voters during the last presidential election and then got invited back the next week for a BBQ, took my friend's being hung over very matter-of-factly.
"Oh yeah, that can happen," she was like. "It's good that he's out in the fresh air walking around, that always helps."
The one older (white) woman with the Wisconsin accent who had once told me she got invited up on a porch to have a beer with some (African-American) voters during the last presidential election and then got invited back the next week for a BBQ, took my friend's being hung over very matter-of-factly.
"Oh yeah, that can happen," she was like. "It's good that he's out in the fresh air walking around, that always helps."
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Some Wisconsin Voters (3 of 3): 3rd set.
7) My one (hispanic) friend of a friend came to volunteer, and he went up to this guy who he thought was a slightly brown (white) person, but on further thought thinks was a native American of some kind.
"Hi, I'm going door-to-door for Obama," my one (hispanic) friend of a friend was like.
"Don't worry about me," the guy was like. "I'm for Obama all the way. I don't want that dumb ass white guy in office."
8) The last voter on the 2nd walk pack (of canvassing) I did for the day was this older (white) guy who said he was "leaning Romney", so I started talking with him, and it came out that he was for Romney all the way...
He said Obama went around apologizing for the U.S., if GM went bankrupt the company would have emerged from it leaner and meaner, and that with Iran, that "those people" only respect you if you show force.
He got really really worked up, and he said he had to stop.
"If you came in for a beer," he was like, "We should not talk about that, we should talk about Detroit instead."
"That's probably for the best," I was like. "So you like the Tigers?"
He did, and we agreed that we could both hate the Yankees.
He went back to yardwork, and then I talked a bit with his wife who was standing there, and I told her how my great aunt was a nun and loved the Tigers, and would have loved the last few games, if she had been alive.
"After lights-out in the convent," I was like, "She used to sneak a transistor radio under the covers, so she could listen to the games. She would have loved to see the Yankees get their ass handed to them on a platter."
After a short pause, I added, "Though, she wouldn't have phrased it like that."
9) At one house, 3 (African-American) girls drove up, and one needed help with voter registration, so after giving everyone fist bumps, I helped her out with that.
Then, as I was finishing up, this ripped shirtless (black) guy in his mid-20s comes out, since he heard I was giving out voter registration info and he needed some help.
Then, he took some fliers on same-day voter registration, since "he sells movies" (bootleg DVDs?) and "people have been asking how you get registered."
Since he gets up early, too, he was thinking of joining the party this past Mon. at 7:15am at the local field office, where people were going to gather and head over to the early voting location to be the 1st people to cast their votes.
"Hi, I'm going door-to-door for Obama," my one (hispanic) friend of a friend was like.
"Don't worry about me," the guy was like. "I'm for Obama all the way. I don't want that dumb ass white guy in office."
8) The last voter on the 2nd walk pack (of canvassing) I did for the day was this older (white) guy who said he was "leaning Romney", so I started talking with him, and it came out that he was for Romney all the way...
He said Obama went around apologizing for the U.S., if GM went bankrupt the company would have emerged from it leaner and meaner, and that with Iran, that "those people" only respect you if you show force.
He got really really worked up, and he said he had to stop.
"If you came in for a beer," he was like, "We should not talk about that, we should talk about Detroit instead."
"That's probably for the best," I was like. "So you like the Tigers?"
He did, and we agreed that we could both hate the Yankees.
He went back to yardwork, and then I talked a bit with his wife who was standing there, and I told her how my great aunt was a nun and loved the Tigers, and would have loved the last few games, if she had been alive.
"After lights-out in the convent," I was like, "She used to sneak a transistor radio under the covers, so she could listen to the games. She would have loved to see the Yankees get their ass handed to them on a platter."
After a short pause, I added, "Though, she wouldn't have phrased it like that."
9) At one house, 3 (African-American) girls drove up, and one needed help with voter registration, so after giving everyone fist bumps, I helped her out with that.
Then, as I was finishing up, this ripped shirtless (black) guy in his mid-20s comes out, since he heard I was giving out voter registration info and he needed some help.
Then, he took some fliers on same-day voter registration, since "he sells movies" (bootleg DVDs?) and "people have been asking how you get registered."
Since he gets up early, too, he was thinking of joining the party this past Mon. at 7:15am at the local field office, where people were going to gather and head over to the early voting location to be the 1st people to cast their votes.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
== NEWSFLASH - NEWSFLASH - NEWSFLASH ==
I went to bar #1,000 last night.
I don't even know what that number means anymore - some of the bars have closed, I wonder if I've accidentally been to the same bar twice (maybe one I had been to before my project began, and then back to once and then another time, and wrote it down both times), and one of the bars I've been to has been re-opened under a new name by its Bosnian owner for tax evasion purposes (and I've been to it under each of its names).
I only planned to go to bar #997 and maybe bar #998 last night since my friend I was meeting from out of town is not much of a drinker and is in the middle of studying for her qualifying exams, but it turns out her girlfriend of almost 5 years had an affair, so we spent a lot of time talking about their relationship, and so went out for multiple drinks.
The bar we went to last was this gay leather daddy bar from the 1970s. The bartender was this balding late 40s blonde guy in chaps with a goatee and serious fuzzy hair on his upper arms, but he was very very nice to have a woman in the bar, and he even went to open up the (unmarked) women's restroom for her (they keep it locked so men don't have sex in there?).
When I was talking with my friend, I noticed there was a DVD case of gay porn on a shelf, but the screens behind the bar were playing some sports game...
Then, later, my friend was like, "Did you see what's on the screens?", and it turns out that on a screen way over to the right out of my line of vision porn was playing, and there was porn playing on a screen that was behind her head, which I hadn't noticed.
From then on, whenever she shifted in the course of talking about her horrendous breakup, I couldn't help glancing up at the screen, which was full of muscled hairy older guys fucking.
I don't even know what that number means anymore - some of the bars have closed, I wonder if I've accidentally been to the same bar twice (maybe one I had been to before my project began, and then back to once and then another time, and wrote it down both times), and one of the bars I've been to has been re-opened under a new name by its Bosnian owner for tax evasion purposes (and I've been to it under each of its names).
I only planned to go to bar #997 and maybe bar #998 last night since my friend I was meeting from out of town is not much of a drinker and is in the middle of studying for her qualifying exams, but it turns out her girlfriend of almost 5 years had an affair, so we spent a lot of time talking about their relationship, and so went out for multiple drinks.
The bar we went to last was this gay leather daddy bar from the 1970s. The bartender was this balding late 40s blonde guy in chaps with a goatee and serious fuzzy hair on his upper arms, but he was very very nice to have a woman in the bar, and he even went to open up the (unmarked) women's restroom for her (they keep it locked so men don't have sex in there?).
When I was talking with my friend, I noticed there was a DVD case of gay porn on a shelf, but the screens behind the bar were playing some sports game...
Then, later, my friend was like, "Did you see what's on the screens?", and it turns out that on a screen way over to the right out of my line of vision porn was playing, and there was porn playing on a screen that was behind her head, which I hadn't noticed.
From then on, whenever she shifted in the course of talking about her horrendous breakup, I couldn't help glancing up at the screen, which was full of muscled hairy older guys fucking.
Some Wisconsin Voters (2 of 3): 2nd set.
4) I was talking with this younger multiracial woman who answered the door at the home of an older woman she was caring for.
I gave her some info (she wanted to know some early voting stuff), and then I asked her if the older woman wanted some too, and she invited me inside, where a very very old woman was laid back in a chair with her eyes closed.
"HI," she was like, "THERE'S A YOUNG MAN HERE WITH VOTING INFORMATION, WOULD YOU LIKE SOME?", she asked the old woman, and when she didn't answer, she turned to me and was like, "She's asleep."
I then told her about absentee ballot info, for her if she was interested when she waked up, and told her that it's legal for someone to help her fill it out, if she's unable to hold a pen, that person just has to sign an affadavit on the ballot under threat of a felony, if they don't convey the wishes of the person they're helping to fill it out.
She said she'd tell her, and then as we walked out and I said good bye, she was like, "You have a blessed day, you are so nice and genuine."
5) Going to one house, I passed by some carpenters, and like I always, I greet people and ask them how they're doing, and then when they ask me, I say something about how I'm tired, from walking around so much working my butt off for Obama and other Democrats.
At that point, I can start a conversation, and get them voter info.
This middle-aged, kind of fat (white) carpenter guy was gruff, but told me he was a Democrat.
Then, at the next house, I met this (hispanic-American) mom who was running out the door to pick up her daughter from gymnastics, but who I talked to briefly and said she was undecided.
"What'd she say?", the carpenter said as she left.
"Undecided," I was like, and at that he got a confused look and shrugged, like what the heck is she thinking, and amazement at how some people just don't get who's on your side.
6) A fellow volunteer was this older (Indian) woman who came to the country in the 1950s for an engineering degree, and got into IT and then banking.
She said outsourcing scares her... She's proud India is now technically capable, but to have "the work" there and "all the bosses" here means that no one in the U.S. really knows a program top-to-bottom, which was the case through the 80s and early 90s.
She also said companies have abandoned in-house training, which made more creative and useful workers, and now you just have these narrowly-trained people that makes you money in the short-term, but not the long-term.
She also said banks are *way* too big - one international one she works for had a $6 *billion* dollar IT budget - and that she's noticed the bigger the bank, the more callous the behavior of the executives.
I gave her some info (she wanted to know some early voting stuff), and then I asked her if the older woman wanted some too, and she invited me inside, where a very very old woman was laid back in a chair with her eyes closed.
"HI," she was like, "THERE'S A YOUNG MAN HERE WITH VOTING INFORMATION, WOULD YOU LIKE SOME?", she asked the old woman, and when she didn't answer, she turned to me and was like, "She's asleep."
I then told her about absentee ballot info, for her if she was interested when she waked up, and told her that it's legal for someone to help her fill it out, if she's unable to hold a pen, that person just has to sign an affadavit on the ballot under threat of a felony, if they don't convey the wishes of the person they're helping to fill it out.
She said she'd tell her, and then as we walked out and I said good bye, she was like, "You have a blessed day, you are so nice and genuine."
5) Going to one house, I passed by some carpenters, and like I always, I greet people and ask them how they're doing, and then when they ask me, I say something about how I'm tired, from walking around so much working my butt off for Obama and other Democrats.
At that point, I can start a conversation, and get them voter info.
This middle-aged, kind of fat (white) carpenter guy was gruff, but told me he was a Democrat.
Then, at the next house, I met this (hispanic-American) mom who was running out the door to pick up her daughter from gymnastics, but who I talked to briefly and said she was undecided.
"What'd she say?", the carpenter said as she left.
"Undecided," I was like, and at that he got a confused look and shrugged, like what the heck is she thinking, and amazement at how some people just don't get who's on your side.
6) A fellow volunteer was this older (Indian) woman who came to the country in the 1950s for an engineering degree, and got into IT and then banking.
She said outsourcing scares her... She's proud India is now technically capable, but to have "the work" there and "all the bosses" here means that no one in the U.S. really knows a program top-to-bottom, which was the case through the 80s and early 90s.
She also said companies have abandoned in-house training, which made more creative and useful workers, and now you just have these narrowly-trained people that makes you money in the short-term, but not the long-term.
She also said banks are *way* too big - one international one she works for had a $6 *billion* dollar IT budget - and that she's noticed the bigger the bank, the more callous the behavior of the executives.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Some Wisconsin Voters (1 of 3): 1st set.
This past Sat. I went up to volunteer in Wisconsin again...
1) This one guy's sister is the (Democratic) registrar of deeds, so I ended up chatting with him. He was an older white guy in his late 50s with a pot belly, and he was loading up his truck to go sell stuff at a flea market.
"I'd wear a button and campaign there," he was like, "But I don't want to p*ss off Republicans, they're the ones with all the money!".
2) An older sister of a large family was out, but this lanky high school-aged (African-American) kid answered the door, and there was like an 8 year-old (African-American) girl there and a couple young (African-American) kids running around behind him.
"We like Obama," the 8-year old girl said, "Not that other guy... What's his name, again?"
"Romney," I was like.
"Yeah, Romney," she said, and from behind her one of the young kids (a boy) started yelling out, "Romney sucks booty!", and the kids all laughed and the younger girl started yelling it too.
I gave them all fistbumps when I left, to hype them up.
3) After my first walk pack (of canvassing) of the day, I was near this soda fountain/gift shop (from 1911!) that was across from the Jockey Shorts factory building.
I stopped through, and on impulse I bought some foam cheese wedge earrings for a friend.
As I was walking to check-out, I saw this older (white) woman trying on a bracelet, so I was like, "Hey, this is the jewelry you should be looking at," and showed her the cheese wedge earrings.
"Oh, ya big spender!", she said, with a Wisconsin accent.
As I was getting done at checkout, she came up to me again and asked me where I found those, in the store.
1) This one guy's sister is the (Democratic) registrar of deeds, so I ended up chatting with him. He was an older white guy in his late 50s with a pot belly, and he was loading up his truck to go sell stuff at a flea market.
"I'd wear a button and campaign there," he was like, "But I don't want to p*ss off Republicans, they're the ones with all the money!".
2) An older sister of a large family was out, but this lanky high school-aged (African-American) kid answered the door, and there was like an 8 year-old (African-American) girl there and a couple young (African-American) kids running around behind him.
"We like Obama," the 8-year old girl said, "Not that other guy... What's his name, again?"
"Romney," I was like.
"Yeah, Romney," she said, and from behind her one of the young kids (a boy) started yelling out, "Romney sucks booty!", and the kids all laughed and the younger girl started yelling it too.
I gave them all fistbumps when I left, to hype them up.
3) After my first walk pack (of canvassing) of the day, I was near this soda fountain/gift shop (from 1911!) that was across from the Jockey Shorts factory building.
I stopped through, and on impulse I bought some foam cheese wedge earrings for a friend.
As I was walking to check-out, I saw this older (white) woman trying on a bracelet, so I was like, "Hey, this is the jewelry you should be looking at," and showed her the cheese wedge earrings.
"Oh, ya big spender!", she said, with a Wisconsin accent.
As I was getting done at checkout, she came up to me again and asked me where I found those, in the store.
Monday, October 22, 2012
Memories of Bars (4 of 5): Yelp review, Patron's mother.
The same night me and my one (Asian-Canadian) friend were out barhopping, we ended up at this local bar in the hipster area that's managed to remain very local, and since it was the night of their Oktoberfest, they had a tray of free bratwurst in the back, next to a tray of sweet-and-sour German potatoes and a stack of paper plates and forks.
We ended up eating that shit and talking with patrons, and one pulled out from behind a countertop electronic gaming machine a framed Yelp review where a guy not only trashed everyone in the place (including the women, none of whom he said were "pokeable"), but with enough detail so you could tell exactly who everyone was.
"Isn't that so ridiculous?", the one (late 30s) (white) girl in a felt Bavarian hat said. "Some of them we get erased, but that was so ridiculous, we just had to keep it."
Right before we left, too, she was saying her mom was a nun and had actually gone to the all-girls high school where my great aunt the nun was an accountant, and had lived on campus since she was part of the group of girls who were on the track to become nuns.
She went all the way up to be a postulant, and then one day they had an outing to go see this new movie, "The Sound of Music", and she realized that she was interested in other paths.
To this day, though, she loves nuns, and at her 50th birthday party she had all the women dress up like them.
We ended up eating that shit and talking with patrons, and one pulled out from behind a countertop electronic gaming machine a framed Yelp review where a guy not only trashed everyone in the place (including the women, none of whom he said were "pokeable"), but with enough detail so you could tell exactly who everyone was.
"Isn't that so ridiculous?", the one (late 30s) (white) girl in a felt Bavarian hat said. "Some of them we get erased, but that was so ridiculous, we just had to keep it."
Right before we left, too, she was saying her mom was a nun and had actually gone to the all-girls high school where my great aunt the nun was an accountant, and had lived on campus since she was part of the group of girls who were on the track to become nuns.
She went all the way up to be a postulant, and then one day they had an outing to go see this new movie, "The Sound of Music", and she realized that she was interested in other paths.
To this day, though, she loves nuns, and at her 50th birthday party she had all the women dress up like them.
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Memories of Bars (3 of 3): Mi Lingua Favorida.
On the night of barhopping to celebrate my (Asian-Canadian) friend's passing prelims, we mostly were on the edge and within the confines of this hipster neighborhood, but every once in a while we would light upon a vestigial bar from previous, now mostly-effaced populations.
One, we walk in, and who knew, it was Mexican, and there's like 2 (female) bartenders, and a couple of darker, brick-shaped guys with moustaches down by the end of the bar.
Above the bar, too, there was a huge painting of a naked woman reclining, and showing off her black, carefully-drawn pubic hairs.
So we order, and I ask the older (female) bartender, "What is that?", pointing to the painting.
"I don't know," she said, shrugging and laughing, suddenly breaking her impassive face.
"Well," I was like, "I want a leaf."
"What?", she was like, squinting and turning her ear in towards me.
"A leaf. Una lista."
"?Una lista?", she was like.
"Yes, for her!", and at that I pointed at the painted woman's thatch, and the bartender looked up and saw what I was pointing at and laughed.
Later, me and my friend that behind the bar they had this mug shaped like a giant breast, and you could drink out of its nipple, and its handle was a naked woman, and over on the other side of the bar they had like a wooden trophy plaque, only it had a pair of women's breasts in a red bikini on it.
When we were finishing up and the bartender came up to see if we wanted more drinks, I gestured outside to a tree near the door and was like, "?Quieres una lista, para ella?", and the woman laughed again, though more softly and generously this time, and shook her head and said good night.
One, we walk in, and who knew, it was Mexican, and there's like 2 (female) bartenders, and a couple of darker, brick-shaped guys with moustaches down by the end of the bar.
Above the bar, too, there was a huge painting of a naked woman reclining, and showing off her black, carefully-drawn pubic hairs.
So we order, and I ask the older (female) bartender, "What is that?", pointing to the painting.
"I don't know," she said, shrugging and laughing, suddenly breaking her impassive face.
"Well," I was like, "I want a leaf."
"What?", she was like, squinting and turning her ear in towards me.
"A leaf. Una lista."
"?Una lista?", she was like.
"Yes, for her!", and at that I pointed at the painted woman's thatch, and the bartender looked up and saw what I was pointing at and laughed.
Later, me and my friend that behind the bar they had this mug shaped like a giant breast, and you could drink out of its nipple, and its handle was a naked woman, and over on the other side of the bar they had like a wooden trophy plaque, only it had a pair of women's breasts in a red bikini on it.
When we were finishing up and the bartender came up to see if we wanted more drinks, I gestured outside to a tree near the door and was like, "?Quieres una lista, para ella?", and the woman laughed again, though more softly and generously this time, and shook her head and said good night.
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