CULTURAL, SCHMULTURAL!!!

Howdy, blogger pals!

Well, most of you will get a really big kick out of this one! *chuckle* I know I did.

So... my friends, Jo and Susan, and I headed for the big city of Lake Charles yesterday afternoon about 4:45 p.m. We were definitely in good moods, anticipating a chat with the author of a book who appeared, in her online bio, to be worth a chat. Jo was hopeful she could get a signed copy of the book. It was going to be a great evening!!

We got there about 30 minutes ahead of the scheduled 6:00 p.m. event. I asked... okay, I BEGGED... to make a Starbucks stop since it was only about 6 blocks from the event location. No problem. We stopped and I got my "fix", ending a nearly 3-week withdrawal. We then moved on to the event location... the Lake Charles Public Library.

Susan and I were working on our Starbucks scores so we stopped in the foyer of the library at a bench. Jo decided to forge ahead and check out the event setup, etc. Susan and I chatted while finishing our drinks. It seemed a bit longer than we would have expected but, at last, Jo finally came walking through the glass door into the foyer. Her face definitely told us things were not going smoothly.

Jo's statement (I'm paraphrasing here) was a simple "She's not here" referencing the author. "What?!?" was Susan's and my immediate response. A repeated "She's not here" was followed by a hodge-podge of explanation that one of the library staff didn't know why she wasn't there but perhaps another member of the staff indicated she wasn't going to be there although there seemed to be some confusion by the library about what was, or wasn't, going to occur. It was a barrage of information that none of us comprehended. Bottom line? We were going to be deprived of our Cultural Event. Yes... we had made the trip in anticipation only to have our expectations dashed. Sigh. It was a sad moment for us all.

Okay! So... what about dinner?!?!? :) After all, there were refreshing adult beverages to be had and good food to be found! (You can't keep a group of gals down!) After some discussion, we decided on a local eatery that has been in business for a VERY long time (since 1948) called Pat's of Henderson. Perhaps one day I will regale you with the tale of our brand new waitperson (a young lady) and her "shadow" trainer (a middle-aged gentleman) who provided us a pretty good comedy show during dinner... although they were completely unaware of it! We had a nice dinner (I had the crawfish gumbo if you're interested!), a show (remember the waitstaff?), and great conversation. Did we miss the author's non-appearance? Not really. I remembered hearing or reading something way back when indicating the event was the journey... not the final destination. I believe this little road trip was a reminder for the three of us that the journey was the important part of our evening.

Now then... those of you who know me well understand that my recommendation to my friend, Jo, was to go online and contact everyone... the author, the publisher, the library! Let them know how disappointed we were and the trouble through which we had gone to attend (that might be a slight exaggeration... but there is a point to be made!). Today, Jo began forwarding the responses she was getting to me!! It was GREAT, folks!! Bottom line: Lots of apologizing AND Jo is going to get a couple of autographed book copies. (The publisher had not updated their tour information even though the author had cancelled her Lake Charles run last November and the Lake Charles Public Library had removed it from their calendar.)

So... although I remain culturally deprived, I am happy to report I am not friend-deprived... and that is far more important!

Until next post...