Socializing in Jackson

Bucky & T.D. posted in the past three weeks their thoughts and memories regarding some of the bars here in Jackson. I meant to add a comment, but never got a chance, but since I have a few days off, I'll post some few belated things.

Unlike Bucky & T.D., I didn't grow up in Jackson. My grandmother, uncle & aunt, and first cousins lived here. I came over to visit every so often. My first experience with bars in Jackson was Hal & Mal's. I was doing research for my MA history thesis. I went over to Hal & Mal's for lunch.

My second experience was shortly after I had gotten my MLS degree. I had a temp job working at a local law firm in their library. I often ate lunch at George Street Grocery. I usually ate at the bar. Serving at the bar was a guy named Puddin. Nice guy. A few months after the temp job ended, he was killed. That really saddened me.

Five years ago, I'm offered a position where I currently work and so I move here to the area. By then, my grandmother had died. There was just my uncle & aunt and first cousins-- and I hardly ever see my cousins. So it's like what is there for a single guy from smalltown Mississippi to do?

Being the sort who likes coffee shops, bookstores, and bars, I go to some and try to socialize. What with many of my colleagues either being a lot older than I am or married, there weren't many opportunities to go out with people I knew-- so I had to explore. Which is fine with me. I like exploring-- the problem is that the intelligence about the local scene wasn't there.

I went to Hal & Mal's a few times (pre-Pub Quiz) and was unimpressed. I went to the Forum & was unimpressed with it. Yeah, it was big, but there was no atmosphere to speak of. I went to Musiquarium pretty frequently. Its problem was different-- it was too small. I like smaller places, but I also like to be able to move around. It got to be so bad for me that I stopped going to Musiquarium. A few months afterwards, Musiquarium closed.

Bookstores are cool. My oldest friend here in Jackson that I made was at Barnes & Noble is Jen. I don't know if she knows it, but she's helped me a lot. She is a true friend & whenever I see her, I have to smile. Thanks to Jen, I met T.D & later became aware of Martin's, which is where I've met a lot of my friends & acquaintances here in Jackson.

At about that same time (May 2003), my father had died. It was right at the end of the spring semester. I wanted to do something different. I was a little disenchanted with the coffee houses as far as a place to socialize. And even though I like my Shiner Bock & Hoegaarden, I am loath to get drunk. When you grow up in a small town & know people who were alcoholics and died because of alcoholism, it can make an impression.

So anyway, I went to Pub Quiz. Normally I wouldn't have been able to go because I normally worked Tuesday nights, but with school not being in session, I could go, so I did. The first time I went, I was my own team & did pretty well-- didn't finish in the money, but did much better than would be expected for a solo player. The second time I went I saw Jen & T.D. and asked I could team up with them.

And through PQ, I've become acquainted with a lot of people (you can see many of their photos at T.D.'s site), made a bunch of friends-- some of whom I later find out are people I am somewhat distantly related to (if you're keeping score-- second cousins once removed, I think)-- but not of the guy wearing the cap in the second photo.

The last time I had something to drink in Martin's was the first weekend in April. That was a pretty strange weekend for me. My father would have turned 80 that weekend if he were still living. I was not in the best of moods & had way too much to drink that Friday night. I spent the night at T.D.'s house.

The next week all heck breaks loose with the bar scene in Jackson. Now I'll confess. Even though I've made criticisms of the Forum & Musiquarium, it's not the places that ultimately matter to me. It's the people. Many people-- many of them friends and acquaintances-- were upset. And because they were upset, I was sad.

I went to George Street pretty often, but as Bucky said-- the Putsch was unsuccessful. I go to PQ at Hal & Mal's somewhat often-- not as often as I once did-- because it's a slightly different atmosphere. A lot of the people are still there, which is good, but I go about once a month now-- I've not been since the third birthday PQ though. I teamed up with the Episcopalian minister from Justice League whose name escapes me at the moment, a couple of college students, and a high school student. We finished in second.

There's a part of me that wishes things were the same, but I know change happens. Sometimes change is cool. Sometimes change sucks. There's always the people though. Thank goodness for the people.