Friday Afternoon

I started taking Friday afternoons off a few years ago and I sure love it. It gives me a chance to do piddling things or just do nothing…..wonderful.

This particular Friday afternoon found me in town getting some parts and running a few errands. I had finished my business and stopped at a convenience store to fill up with gas and get a bottle of water. After I filled up with gas, I went inside and found a fairly long line of people waiting to check out.

There were three men directly in front of me and I could tell they were welders by profession. They all still had on those short brimmed caps that welders often cover their heads with. These three fellows were done for the week. It was about 4 o’clock and they must have finished a bit early this Friday and were stopping by the store on the way home. I wondered what they were about to purchase because they had nothing in their hands.I could tell that they were a fun bunch. They were laughing and joking and seemed like my kind of people. I just stayed back a ways and listened to them cut up about the week and ramble on about how much fun they were gonna have during the upcoming weekend. I figured these three were really good at what they did, they were in their late 40’s and I had seen their welding rig when they pulled up. It was fancy and brand new.

I supposed they worked in the oil field somewhere within a hundred miles or so of Lamesa. They continued to laugh and visit until their turn came at the checker. I could tell from the conversation that they had gotten paid today and were ready for some time off and a good weekend. “I want $76 worth of them there scratch off tickets!”, the first welder said as his turn came up in line. He went on to tell the checker exactly which ones he wanted and told her to give each one a kiss for luck as she pulled it off the roll. The second one came to the front next and he also asked for $76 worth of scratch off tickets. He told the check out lady which ones he wanted and asked her to rub the hundred dollar bill he was paying for them with on the tickets before she put it in the register. The check out lady seemed to know this charismatic group because she just laughed and did what they asked.

The third one arrived at the front and asked for $76 worth of tickets and before he could tell her what his lucky tradition was, she dropped them on the floor and stepped on them. Obviously this was a weekly Friday ritual for this fun loving bunch and she had dropped and stomped many times before.

My turned arrived at the front and I had a ten dollar bill and a couple of items. The total came to three dollars and some change. The lady asked me if I wanted some lottery tickets, and after watching those guys I decided I would. I have never purchased scratch off tickets in my life, but those guys made it appear to be a blast I could see them out the window standing around the bed of their welding truck scratching them off and having a ball.

I walked out the front door with four lottery tickets and approached them to see how their luck was going. They had about 4 or 5 tickets already scratched off and having a great time comparing who had won the most so far. “You want in on this?” the skinny one with the gray beard asked me. “I don’t know what “this” is!” I replied.

“Every Friday we come here and buy $76 dollars worth of lottery tickets and who ever wins the most has to go back in and buy beer for the rest of us for the weekend. I have won the last three weeks, if you want to call it that, no one hardly ever wins enough money to even buy the beer, much less the lottery tickets.”“I only have four tickets and I really don’t even know what I am supposed to do with them. What do you scratch and what does it tell you?”

“The short chubby one said, “Okay, here is what we will do. We will all take 4 tickets each and scratch em. Who ever gets the most will have to buy the beer, what do ya say?”

They all gave an approving nod and so did I. They choose 4 of their remaining tickets and I had my four ready to go. They made a presentation of it. It was a one at a time affair and everybody had to watch as each person scratched off. I am not a beer drinker at all, but this was turning out to be a lot of fun and I wasn’t going to miss it.

I went last on the first round of scratch off. One fella had managed to win one dollar and when it was my turn I actually found myself a bit nervous. Pressure…I needed to at least be better than one dollar. I began scratching and they started making fun of me. They said I scratched like a rookie and told me to get out my pocket knife and do it like a veteran. I was using a dime that the lady had given me as change and obviously that was ridiculous to them. So I got out my knife and went to work.  My first card was a dud. When I got the last square scratched off, they hooped and hollered and called me a cry baby. Now the second round started. This time I had to go first. I used my new found swagger as a pocket knife scratcher and the last scratch revealed that I had won $13. They boo’ed me and said I was a lucky rascal. Not one of their cards was a winner and now I was $12 dollars ahead.  The third round started and another fella went first this time. After the round I wound up $17 dollars ahead and was beginning to wonder how much beer these guys were gonna want if I won.  The fourth round started and this time I was second to last. The first two scratchers got nothing and I was beginning to wish I had just walked on by and gone to my truck. I was gonna win a few dollars and have to pay a bunch of dollars for beer for three guys I didn’t even know.

The card I had was a little complicated. I read the directions and wasn’t even sure what I had to do to win. They seemed totally tuned in and as I scratched they made dramatic noises as it appeared as if the first few scratches were leading to a chance at something big. I removed the coating of the last square and they all jumped around in circles, high fiving each other and acting like their team had just won the super bowl. I didn’t even know what had happened. One of them snatched the card away from me and looked it over closely.

‘He won $210!!!!!!!!! We will have beer for the entire week. Yeeeee Hawwww!!!!!!”

I felt as proud of myself as I could be. I was suddenly caught up in the excitement and jumping around and high fiving with them. I bet we must have celebrated this “win” for a good five minutes before someone finally said…”lets go cash it in and buy the best beer in the store for a change!”  I gave them the ticket and told them that I wasn’t a beer drinker and that they could spend $70 dollars a piece on all the good beer they wanted. (which was still 6 dollars a piece less than they had paid for tickets). They were so happy. I couldn’t believe it. They told me thank you and that it was a lot of fun, and then they hurried off into the store to buy some really expensive beer for the weekend.

As I walked back to my truck, I saw the logo on the side of the fancy truck……”76 welding”. Now it all made sense.

A few weeks later I entered the horse barn with my record in hand to find the person that had a lame horse. I approached the horse and a chubby fellow stepped out from beside it and asked if I remembered him. I looked over his face and thought maybe I had seen him before but couldn’t remember where.  “I am one of the guys you bought $210 worth of Michelob for a few weeks back!”

I started laughing out loud. “Yes….Yes you are. That was a really fun 30 minutes we spent together playing out the mystery of the scratch off. I really enjoyed that. How did you even know you were bringing your horse to the scratch off guy? We never even exchanged names.”

“We all knew who you were. I usually take my horse to Dr. such and such over in Odessa. But after watching you have a great time laughing with three total strangers, competing for beer that you don’t even drink, I decided I want you to work on my horses from now on!”

You just never know how moments in this life will affect circumstance and friendships. I had a great time working on his horse and laughing and getting to know him and the story of 76 welding. He told me that the other two were ropers too and that they would be bringing horses to me when they needed help also.

You really don’t know when you might find new friends on a Friday afternoon  Click Here to order Crowded in the Middle of Nowhere