Waffle House and onward

Jason Gaines was met with surprise when he discovered that I was a virgin as far as my experiences with the fabled Waffle House's go. "Any time you ask for directions in the South," he basically said, "a Waffle House will be in the reply." The charming diner-type atmosphere was accentuated by our tables which were curiously attached to an area where the waitresses scurried to and fro with tickets, coffee, and the patrons' orders. Our greasy food slid down easily but a curious jukebox in a corner of the restaurant caught our eyes. Among various oldies and [mostly] country titles, the music machine held songs about (you'll never guess) waffles. One of the waitresses we talked to told us about them and how sick and wrong they were. I guess with songs like the "Waffle Do Wop", society certainly can't go wrong. I am, however, a poor college student and hence did not indulge in what I'm sure was to be the pure bliss of the waffle related ditties.

As mile after mile blurred past on dark I-10, we took a short stop at a rest area on the Alabama border. The Jasons and I made it our personal duty to take pictures of every state's "Welcome to (fill in the blank)" sign that we passed. After the Alabama border stop and picture opp, we hopped in our trusty steed and cruised through to the Mississippi border. Since the night wore on along with everyone's drowsiness, we understandibly missed taking pictures of the Mississippi and Louisana border signs.

And now, an aside.

One sight that could not be caught on camera but was caught in my mind hung in the sky that evening/morning. A nearly full Moon cast volumetric shadows or rays of Moonlight as it danced behind low lying clouds. The play of dim, blue-ish light from behind the puffs of cotton in the dark sky did nothing but imprint upon my mind.

After crossing the Mississippi, our journey took us into and straight north through Louisiana. As our borrowed Buick's gas gauge again read dangerously close to empty, we despirately yerned for an oasis among the wide open Pine forests of Louisana. "Thank God for Woodworth," exclaimed Jason Looper after we found an Exxon station in, you guessed it, the nothing town of Woodworth, LA.

10am (still driving since 8pm last night) brought about the Texas border and an amazing mile post marker which simply read, "mile 634". Now that's a wide state! We arrived at Jason Looper's ex-step dad's house in Plano, TX (just north of Dallas) around 1pm. Everyone except me enjoyed a nice nap while I used Steve's computer to type email to the folks back home. The promise of a taco dinner cooked by Jason's mom was all that encouraged everyone to wake up by about 4:30pm. Jason's mom came to meet us and escorted us to a local grocery store.

And now, an aside.

Plano, TX is a wealthy community based on a very high tech workforce. Telecommunications corporations dotting the side of the freeway gave me one clue to the area's economic condition. I guess this reliance on the high tech industry really made this community burst at the seems with people who were very weathy but weren't very good at it. Nerds aren't very proficient in the art of snobbery, lemme tell you. Scenes like an older man carrying a computer to his car or a 10-year-old talking on a cell phone really planted themselves in my mind. On our way to an upscale grocery store called Tom Thumb, I noticed that our 1995 Buick station wagon was perhaps the blockiest, oldest car on the road. It was as if everyone had a lease that allowed them to get a new car nearly every month. There wasn't a beater (besides ours) among them. Tom Thumb was also a particulary scarey place. Social interaction was at a minimum in this flourescent lit paradise. People hung their heads toward the shiny floor as they weilded shopping carts full of food that could only be the ingredients for modern cuisine. Shopping carts rolled silently around in a haphazard pattern like traffic on a busy street. No pardons were returned to me when I was crossed by the four wheel metal baskets. One man, a worker in the store whose name tag read "Tom", and I were going to intersect when I yeilded and said, "Excuse me." The man raised his face, smiled and returned the social favor. I can't get by the feeling that passed through me at that moment. I really felt that not one person had ever been kind enough to yield to a mere worker in the store and that Tom was no exception. I may have just been a ray of sunshine in the life of a man whose feelings are neglected every day by the people of his "community". I could never live in Plano, TX.

We were soon treated to a great taco dinner by Jason's mom at her apartment. The beef and chili filled home-made shells were a great treat to my stomach. As Jason Looper's mom and Jason Gaines bantered about southern rock groups, the other Jason became more jealous of the digital camera duo. After the taco and jicama meal, Dr. Leake, Jason and I indulged the jealous other Jason and went to a local Wal-Mart so he could pick up his own digital camera. Successful in his purchase, Jason now joined the ranks of the digital camera elite (sarcasm). We returned to Steve's house and popped in a leftover movie rental Enemy of the State. Progressing with the movie was the pressure in my head and the temperature of my body. When I settled down for bed I felt dizzy and hot and worried that I was about to get really sick on the road to Kitt Peak.

Comments (3) | To Top

1/31/2006 @ 8:26am

Can you get in touch with Jason Looper?

by shane davis

1/31/2006 @ 10:28am

shane: I could dig through to see if I have any old emails from him but, otherwise, I'm afraid I'm not in contact with him currently.

by KevinFreitas

3/31/2008 @ 11:28am

What's up man!!!

It's amazing you still have this up. For some reason I decided to google Jason Looper to see if he had made headlines or anything like that. I haven't talked with him in a while. Anyway, this link popped up and it was definitely a blast from the past. I remember you kept a journal. Seemed like it was on a "notebook-looking" back drop but I guess that's easy to change.

If you don't mind, and obviously you don't because its on the web, I'm going to snoop around and see if there are any other posts about the trip.

I hope everything is going well for you!

Jason

by Jason Gaines

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Waffle House and onward

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