Alright, ladies and gentlemen... tonight we talk about the local hang outs around town.

There are so many different worlds of people in this area and each one seems to have their specific hang out. I've been in this town long eough to get a basic feel for the eddies and currents of the various layers of society.

Granted, I don't know shit about this town. This is simply my own contrived opinion. But, I think it's funny so you're subjected to it. *nods*

Chuck's

This is a place which has been labeled a "family restaurant". However, it's more of a truck stop/greasy spoon on the highway of life. Most of the folks that hang out at Chuck's are the coffee crowd. They're comprised of locals. Born and bred, even. They come out for coffee, cigarettes and gossip.

If you want to know who has died or who is in the hospitial, talk to Donna, the morning shift waitress. She's efficient and gets the work done. Sometimes she might forget something in your order, but it's rare. And she always has a smile on her face, tho sometimes it's rather haggard.

You've got Rich, Skipper, Llyle and Russel for the lunch-counter set. They always seem to be bitching about one thing or other, and none of it makes much sense. But, they're basically harmless as long as they don't breathe on you. *chuckles*

One of my favorites is Ronny. He's just... cool. *grins* He's the person in the group that gets all indignant, railing about injustices and such. He's harmless as long as you stay on his good side.

Out of all the staff, I think my favorites are Josh, one of the cooks. Amy, afternoon shift waitress. Gail, morning/afternoon shift waitress. And Robert, the cook with attitude.

Robert has made a sport out of tossing pickles at me. It's fun, but we can only "play" this game when the owners aren't there. *chuckles*

Gail is cool, but the most amazing thing about her are her nails. No lie. She colors them up with so many amazing little things it's stunning at times. Of course, My favorite conversation "color" was the florescent orange she was wearing in October last year.

Amy is sweetness personified. I think she's one of those people who would do her best to capture even a cockaroach in order to set it outside, rather than just squashing the bug. *shrugs* Dunno, she might have a mean streak in the form of insecticide, but I doubt it.

Josh... *shakes her head* Now, he's just cool. He's the youngest one there, but he's got a great sense of humor. The only negative about the whole situation, is that like with most everyone else who has lived in this town for a while, he seems to be stagnating.

He's extremely sweet, and from what I can tell, he's intelligent too. But he's a fry-cook at Chuck's in Long Beach. He's reached the top of the ladder at his place of work. And he deserves so much better. I hope, somewhere in the back of my mind, that he actually gets out of this town. He could be so much more than he is... And he's only 26. I hope he gets out.

Mary Lou's

Woah, now here's a den of iniquity. *chuckles* For all of you into the drug and cheap/easy sex scenes, this is the place for you. The old time rep for this bar was as the "Lap-Dance" capitol of the town.

This is the place that's directly across from the police station. However, that doesn't seem to disuade the hookers from hanging out there. OH, you wouldn't know them to be hookers by just looking at them. I mean, they're not wearing cheap-o pleather micro-mini skirts. Nor do they have signs upon their busts which state their prices... but, they sure do have a lot of boyfriends. And repeat boyfriends at that. *chuckles*

The usual crowd in Mary Lou's is between the ages of 20 and 26. Often you'll find older folks, but the average age is between 20 and 26. And NO, they don't card you in there. Thus the high frequency of officers moving into and out of the place. Usually two minutes after someone jack-rabbits out the back door. *smirks*

It was my ex's favorite hang out. *rolls her eyes* I think I have been in there 8 times in the past nearly four years. And six of those were during the first year we lived here.

Trail's End

Whoooo boy. This is a place that makes Chuck's look like a four star restaurant. No lie. I think the entire dining area is the same size as my living room. And, for that matter, it looks quite a bit like the cafeteria at my great grandmother's nursing home.

The food is NOT great. It's not even good. The service is laughable. The coffee is a dollar a cup and if you're lucky, you might get one refill. Ask for a second refil and you're going to be paying yet another buck. Woah, and don't even ask for a carrafe of coffee, you'll be payin 5 bucks for that one.

I was there once voluntarily. *chuckles* Stopped in for a cuppa but didn't stay. It's the place where the older folks congregate. The older, non-drinking folks. Oh, and the "group kids" These are the kids that are working on the disadvantaged program. They wash business's windows and such. They sometimes congregate there.

It's not my kind of place. It's not a friendly atmosphere and I don't get to sit and write for any length of time. They've only got about seven tables and such. And they're always hurrying the patrons out. *shrugs* But, if folks like that place, then more power to em.

Long Beach Tavern

This is the friendly place that's close enough for me to walk to and from. The staff are cool and the customers, regulars anyway, are friendly and welcoming.

Marlon and Kelly are the two bar tenders when I'm in there. Marlon is a nice guy, but he drinks when he gets off his shift. I've never seen him completely intoxicated, but I've heard some stories and I've heard him say he was too drunk to remember something. *shrugs* That's not quite my gig.

Kelly is cool. She's sweet and gentle and does her damnedest to get everyone their drinks as soon as they ask for em. Both Marlon and Kelly know me well enough by now. AS soon as I come in, one or the other will head in my direction with my Pepsi.

The locals who hang out in LBT are just... nice. It's an older crowd. Mostly retirees. If you listen, you can hear life stories which lap and overlap and etch out a place within the society as a whole.

There are sweet old ladies who come in for a glass of wine and some conversation. There are older married couples who come in just to get a break from the winter... (yeah, like it's harsh here *rolls her eyes*) And there are folks who simply come in because this is the bar they know they'll always be welcomed in.

If you look closely, you can sometimes see the depression underscoring all the warmth and happiness. You can see men who have lost their wives within the past decade. Some who have lost their one and only true love in life more than 20 years previous. They seem to come together because they have a family at LBT. They sit upon their usual barstool. They drink their usual beer. They gossip with friends.

Sometimes they'll sit in Liar's Corner and tell stories back and forth for hours at a time. If you take the time to just sit back and listen to the currents of life moving through, you can see where the fresh water is and where the ancient tidepools have grown stagnant.

It's an interesting world out there, folks. Take a few days during some week, and sit in your local hang outs. Get a feel for the people who wander through. See if you can figure out where they're going or where they've been.

It's a long and sordid past we are involved in creating. Enjoy the ride.

THIS JUST IN

HEY, you've got to check out this site. Russell AKA Sympatico told me about it.

Yesterday Land

You have simply GOT to check this out. I'm logged in as a user if you want to look up my interests and stuff. I've just spent the last hour looking over the things they've got, being shot down memorylane over and over and over again. It's really well worth your time to check out.

How many of you were fans of The Breakfast Club or The Black Stallion? And the video games? Damn... It's really extremely nostalgic. Everything from the 1900's through the end of the 90's.

Check it out, folks. Explore your past and take a walk in mine. I'm in as TigreFatalis, of course. So look me up and you'll see some of the things I've been interested in throughout my life. I'll be updating it more in time, but after an hour I've only gotten a short way into the site.

I'll probably have a permanant link up tomorrow, so take some time out of your weekend and look up your life.