h2>Dating : Peanuts Never Did It This Way
In a West Side barrio of San Bernardino, I ran a lemonade stand during the summer back when I was about 6 or 7 years old. It was my first shot at some kind of “job.” (Strangely, I had completely forgotten about this story until my dad reminded me about it last Thanksgiving.) Within about ten minutes of me setting up my little, curbside business on G St. and Virginia Circle (near Baseline), a large, yellow Cadillac pulled up. Several ladies in skimpy yet fashionable clothes stepped out followed by an African-American gentleman in a shiny suit with a matching felt hat and cowboy boots. The mack-man and his ladies threads also matched the yellow of his stretched Caddie. These were to be my first customers of my first day, a down pimp and his three hookers.
They all got out of the car, and he strolled up to me first. He asked me for a sample to see if it was “sweet enough.” With the help of my mom, I had put a ton of sugar in it along with enough fresh squeezed lemons to give it just enough of that lemony flavor to make it right for the hood. He took a drink, nodded his head and said, “Take this t-bone, little man. We’ll have the whole thing.” He gave me a twenty dollar bill (which in 1975 was a damn good chunk of change for a kid), and I served them up the whole pitcher cup by cup until it was gone.
My dad saw the whole episode from the porch and was amazed when I came back and said, “A funny dressed man and ladies bought all my lemonade.” Here’s the kicker. Nearly 15 years later, on a scorcher of a summer evening (like it is today), I was drunk and partying with my Berdoo “Buddhahead” friends near the same hood. I saw that same mack-man out in front of a Circle K that we were going in to buy more beer. He was decked in white this time, standing next to a white Caddie and still rolling hard and “checking trap on his broads.” As we passed him on the way to the car, I gave him a beer out of the bag we had, and said, “This Bud’s for you my man.” He nodded, graciously took it, popped the top and took a big hit as we drove out of the parking lot. It truly is a small world.
