Lunch With Otis

My annual trek down to the seafood festival yesterday turned out to be something else. I met Otis.

Otis was walking away from the festival and I was walking to it. From a distance, I could see that this guy has something going on. I mean, aside from the bright red hat and umbrella. Curiosity getting the best of me, I had to stop and talk to him.

He let me take his picture then we talked. Knowing that I wanted to use his picture in my blog, I wanted to get his name right. And having nothing to write on or with, I pulled out my wizbang iPhone and recorded his name in the voice recorder. What followed was not what I expected.

Turns out he was just looking around. Asked if he had any of the seafood there he said no, he didn’t have any money. Upon which I instituted my own stimulus program. He accepted my offer to buy him lunch. He had calamari for the first time, some crawfish pie, and an adult beverage in a can. I ate the same, except for the beer. I’m not a big beer drinker.

I didn’t talk about politics with him, on purpose. We seemed to enjoy each others company and I didn’t want to do something that might have spoiled that chance encounter. I mean, it just didn’t seem the time or place to discuss liberal v conservative politics, or to point out that people like President Obama think that I hate black people and poor people because I consider myself allied with the tea party movement.

Lunch with Otis audio

Transcript:

  • Ross: Otis Womak, works at the Coffee Cup restaurant. Are you a cook?
  • Otis: A dish washer.
  • Ross: A dish washer, oh, outstanding.
  • Otis: I was dishes. I {unintelligible) work there for six and a half years. I came over to see my momma and daddy in the nursing home. So I ran down here to some, ya know ….
  • Ross: Get a little seafood?
  • Otis: Yeah. No I didn’t get no seafood I had no money.
  • Ross: Oh man.
  • Otis: I’m broke, today. So I go over there (unintelligible)
  • Ross: Ya wanna go eat some seafood?
  • Otis: Huh!
  • Ross: Come on with me.

It all worked out just fine. I’m satisfied in knowing that we both had a good meal and some fellowship from complete strangers. I gave him a ride home and called it a day.

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2 thoughts on “Lunch With Otis”

  1. Ignorant and backwards views? Interesting. I’d like it if you would at least justify that assertion.

    As for the tea partiers being racists (another talking point of the Left), I have a link I’d like to share with you. That was studied by rational people a long time ago. I guess you never had a chance to see it. Here it is…
    http://wp.me/pbSS9-19B

  2. That’s awesome!

    Did you tell him that the reason he couldn’t pay for his own food was because he didn’t work hard enough or put himself through college?

    Did you check to see if he owned a TV and then tell him “see, you’re not poor!”.

    Did you take him by the emergency room and tell him when he gets older and gets sick there’s your health care?

    I’m guessing no on all of them. Feeding him a lunch is great, but they don’t make up for your ignorant, backwards views. On every vote you’re going to choose a side that hurts this guy. But hey, that’s capitalism right? That guy had every opportunity a white boy born to a middle income family in the burbs had. Someone’s GOT to lose.

    Also, you may or not be racist, don’t know you. But a large part of the tea party is. Every study done says the same thing (I know I know, liberal studies, right?). Keep your head in the sand, everything makes sense there.

    The worlds a changin’. I know that’s hard for you. You’re scared.

    Now imagine how Otis feels.

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