|
 Steve, the cowboy on the board of directors of the
Mule Barn truck stop’s philosophy counter and world dilemma think
tank, swears on his coffee it happened.
“Tourist guy got off the train the other day when I was down there
picking up a friend,” Steve said. “He asked me if I was a real
cowboy, and I allowed I probably was, because I wasn’t smart enough
to get a real job. So he asked if I minded if he asked me some
questions.”
Steve sipped his coffee. “I said, ‘Shoot’ and the guy says he
wondered why we wore these big ol’ hats with the wide brims. So I
explained to him they give us shade in summer and keep the rain and
snow off our faces, and told him we could give the horse a drink by
putting water in them.
“Then he thanked me and asked why we wore chaps. So I explained how
they protected our legs from cactus and thorns, you know.
“He asked about wild rags like this one,” he said, touching the blue
silk scarf around his neck. “I told him it filtered dust and we
could tie our hats down with it in a high wind.”
[to top of second
column] |
“Sounds reasonable,” Doc said,
“but I thought everybody knew that. Television and Westerns and all
that.”
“Well, yeah,” Steve said. “Me, too. But I think this guy was from a
city somewhere and didn’t watch TV or eat anything that ever had a
pulse. Looked kinda puny. But he was real friendly.
“So then he asked me about saddle horns. Wanted to know if they
honk. This guy was really green, you know? He wanted to know about
ropes and spurs, all kinds of questions like that. I did my best to
answer him, too. Finally he says, ‘Tell me why you cowboys always
wear tennis shoes.’
“So I told him we didn’t want anyone thinking we were truck
drivers.”
Even the truck drivers laughed at that one. Then they threw cracker
packets at Steve.
[Text from file received from
Slim Randles]
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