TRAVELING TEXAS

After a day or two of traveling around Dallas/Fort Worth relaxing, I headed south to pick up my wife in West, TX. Her mom brought her halfway. We met at (where else) the Czech Stop in West. Now, I must preface this story by saying that I spent two and half years in the employment of Phil Pritchett. In those 25-30 months, we probably stopped at the Czech stop no les than 100 times. And if you’ve ever been in the Czech stop, then you know that the walls of the aforementioned home of edible goodness are adorned with hundreds of 8x10’s of passing musicians. You can find everyone from Shakira (far left next to the Dr. Pepper cooler) to Ed Burleson (over the smoked sausage freezer next to the fountain drinks). Bands that I don’t even think were ever actually together for anything more than the 8x10 photo shoot have pictures on the wall. Now, after stopping there 30 or 40 times, I told Phil and the boys that we needed to leave our calling card and slip then an autographed 8x10. Phil was hesitant, thinking it was a little presumptious, but I assured him they’d appreciate it. So we gave them the picture and they seemed very pleased with their new famous customers. When we traveled in a couple days later, the oicture wasn’t displayed. When we came back the next week, no picture. A few weeks passed and we stopped in for some Kolaches…no picture on the wall. We started to think maybe we gave it to the wrong person. So I made Phil and the boys sign another one and this time, I made damn certain we had the right lady to give it to. She assured me that she didn’t know what happened last time, but this time it would make the wall.

Same story for the next couple months. We’d stop, we’d walk the gas station staring at the shots with our breath held and hopes high…and we’d leave with our heads hung low. Finally, we gave up on the idea of ever having our picture in the Czech stop. I moved on from my job with Phil a few months later.

Flash forward to Dec 17. I call my wife and tell her that I’ve arrived 10 minutes early at the Czech stop. She told me to meet her on the bakery side of the Czech Stop. I walk in and what hits me in the face???
There it is. Just like the Red Ryder in the window (A Christmas Story), or the Camaro on the lawn (Better Off Dead), I looked at that picture on the wall like it was the greatest present anyone could have ever given me. Pritchett, Stolly and Lynch sandwiched in between promo shots some girl with a large stuffed dog and a guy in a tux. The angels sang and the drums rolled. And I realized quickly that the picture had probably been hanging here for months- hell, years – since we brought it into the store that windy day so many moons before. The as station was so full of 8x10’s, the girl explained to me, that they had to start hanging them in the bakery. As a show of devotion to my former employer and as a sign of defiance to the Czech Stop, I almost scaled the cash register to pull down the picture and walk it into the gas station side and switch it out with The Stringbenders or Matt The Cat or somebody who doesn’t give a damn that their picture hangs on the wall. I thought better, being the holiday season I didn’t want to go to jail. Much less jail in West. But goddammit, that picture finally made it.