They propound the "3Fs": "F*** it" (willingness to act and low concern about consequences), "F*** that" (unwillingness to ignore problems and issues), and "F*** you" (insistence on social equality with everyone, regardless of credentials, etc.). That means that problems get dealt with (maybe by brawling, but they're dealt with), ideas get implemented (sometimes stupid ideas, but not always), and incompetents don't get a free ride (maybe, again, by brawling). Hence, America moves forward in a way that other countries just can't attain. Is that Disneyworld? Well, America invented Disneyworld, didn't it?
It did, as a matter of fact. That reminds me of a post from 2015 when I mentioned how much I hate "soft tourist versions" of things like biker bars. It was Pigeon Forge rather than Disneyworld on that occasion that had stood up a "biker bar" right across from the Pigeon Forge Harley dealer that was all fake and full of Yuppies in khaki shorts. On the other hand, that bar is still there! Just because it doesn't please me doesn't mean that it isn't after all very popular; not too far away is a fake touristy version of the Titanic, as well as the infamous Dixieland Stampede (apparently recently renamed "Dolly Parton's Stampede" in deference to the cultural revolution).
People love that stuff, as Johnny Mercer pointed out in "I'm an Old Cowhand." Even in 1936, "The buffalo roam around the zoo... and the old Bar X is just a barbecue."
Now if you want to go to a real biker bar, there's one not too far away. I've never seen a fight there, or in any such place actually. Another couple of "Fs" are understood in such places, which are commonly given by the acronym "FAFO."
I used to hang in logger bars- segregated of course- the Indians and the commercial fishermen had their own bars. Hippies drifted between them all. Fights were not uncommon, but usually just fists. Once someone ejected for being a drunken ass drove by and fired his rifle at the barkeeper at closing, and he was shot dead for his trouble.
ReplyDeleteThe town was far more fun as a semi wild place than as the tourist town it became after the Boldt decision and the spotted owl hysteria killed the fishing and logging. Now it is known as the fictional home of vampires.
I used to go to bars where there were fights, too, back when I was a teenager (with a quality fake ID, or in 'bars' that were really just warehouse spaces where we had beer and liquor) or in my 20s. I think youth has more to do with fighting than anything else. Young men have to clash to try to learn things and prove things, to themselves as much as to anyone else.
ReplyDeleteThe kind of men I've spent my adult life with don't have anything left to prove. Once you get there, and you've learned the laws of respect, there's little reason to fight -- and some very good reasons not to, given the quality of your company.
Have you ever been to the Last Chance Saloon just outside of Walhalla? It sits next to the VFW.
ReplyDeleteNo, but I know the one you mean. I saw it on a previous trip to Georgia via Walhalla and didn’t have time to stop. I’ll make a trip down there soon, now that you’ve reminded me of it.
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