TOMBSTONE

Friday, July 06, 2007

This morning I’ve got Tombstone on my mind—the town, not pizza. I watched the movie again last night for the umpteenth time. It reminded me of something that happened to Charlotte and me once upon a time in Tombstone.

Charlotte and I were thoroughly enjoying roaming the streets. When lunch time came we strolled up and down the streets looking for a place to eat. Tombstone has a lot of eating places to choose from and we were having a difficult time deciding on one. We came to the end of the main street and were crossing over to go down the other side. I decided to just take a look in the last place at the end of the street and shouted, “Eureka, I’ve found it.” There before my eyes was laid out a mountain of food on several tables. It was a feast to make an old man’s heart beat fast. It was a banquet to beat all banquets! I told Charlotte to come on in that this was, indeed the place for lunch.

We looked around for a receptionist or someone to seat us, but of course, there was no one. Tombstone is not a place for city slickers it’s for cowboys. You’re on your own. You do the best you can. But of course, we knew we needed to pay so we asked who we should pay and how much.

“Oh darling, you don’t need to pay. Just get a plate and make yourself at home. We are so glad you came.”

“We don’t need to pay? You’re glad we came. We don’t understand!” “Oh no, you can't pay, we wouldn’t think of it. We are having a wake for our friend _______ ________. We politely declined; thanked them for their kindness and left. They were still imploring us to stay as we meekly walked out.

“THERE ARE NO FREE LUNCHES.”

Don’t look now, but there’s a bunch of cowboys and girls down in Tombstone that beg to disagree.