Byron, Blues and Beer

On my refrigerator, among the photos, appointment cards and assorted magnets, hangs a letter from the current powers that be of our little town that, in a nutshell (apropos), fires me and Moondoggy from a decade long volunteer job.  That job?  Selling beer at Byronfest, our 3 day festival that ostensibly celebrates and showcases the businesses of our town and the kindness of our citizens.  Welcome to Byron, enjoy your weekend and leave LOTS of money.  And so, the powers that be, found they were losing money at the beer gardens and decided the best thing to do was FIRE all of their volunteers.  That's right,  I was fired from a volunteer position.  Does it get more pathetic than that?

Ok.  There is always an upside to the shamed.  What that did for me was release me from the obligation of having to schlepp my ass uptown, wear a ridiculous t-shirt uniform that I usually altered somehow, spend loads of money on local food that I would prefer to eat in a restaurant anyway, fight crowds of people milling about between concert stages, and lose my voice and my hearing trying to socialize and catch-up with people while yelling over the conglomeration of three concert stages with vastly different genres of music in a 1 block area.  I'm not bitter - I'm just old.

However, this past weekend, there was a shiny, brand new festival - 12 hours of Blues downtown.  One stage, all Blues, all day.  No yelling over music, well behaved mellow people, and enough shade so as not to damage my already sun dried skin.  Food was sponsored by local eateries and there were three beer stations that sold bottled beer  for a cheaper price than Byronfest.  I don't know who was contracted to sell the beer but I can tell you this. . . 3 times the cute little girl with the big gravity defying tata's and the interesting slits cut in her t-shirt forgot to charge us.  And did she not realize what the 50 something turned twelve year old men were doing when they requested she dip down deep into the cooler to get the coldest beer?  I wonder what her pouty lips will look like when she gets her letter?

She will be getting a letter, right?