Everett and his flag. |
I arrived in Fort Wayne early evening. The place was pretty easy to find as I just had to to locate the "cop car out the front". Everett has a beautiful home, all modern and well put together. Turns out that in Fort Wayne property prices are so low that in most cases mortgage repayments are less than renting. Everett's 2 storey, 3 bedroom house with a basement and huge kitchen was about a fifth of the cost of mine back home. Damn....
American integration room. |
Anyway, Everett first gave me a quick run down of his cop car. He showed me how he responds to calls via a ticketing system which was very similar to what an IT service desk would use. There was also maps that showed where all the units were located (which I indicated would be really useful for me, not that I would be doing anything on the bike that was illegal).
Out of curiosity I asked him to run my plates so I could see what he could find out about me. As the cop car's computer ticked away I was a little nervous. Maybe I had a speeding ticket from a fixed camera I didn't know about? Was he going to find out about by kangaroo porn ring? But it all turned up green, just my registration details showed up.
Everett and I then headed downtown for a night of drinking. But first up Everett gave me a quick tour of the Fort Wayne police station at which he worked. He introduced me to some detectives and showed me the interrogation rooms, which was pretty fucking sweet.
Everett and I then headed out to local bar. It was a traditional Irish bar with lots of good beer and quiet atmosphere. Next was a cocktail bar where we had speciality Martinis and started to get pretty wasted. Everett and I talked about politics and the US, it was very interesting to hear his viewpoints as a person who is ex-military and a conservative.
Pretty sure this cocktail put Everett and I over the edge. |
Then Everett wanted to take me to some sort of super club in Fort Wayne that was known to be a little rough. Sure, I love the dodgy bars, it reminds me of going out back in Canberra where the DJ had to be behind a cage and bogans drank bourbon and cokes from jugs on the dance floor. Ah to be 18 again.
This club had multiple clubs inside (you dawg), and get this: One club for white people and one for black people. Now this wasn't intended or enforced like segregation, it's just how it turned out.
It's such a weird thing to go out drinking with a cop. I guess no matter how dodgy the place you just feel kind of safe. I mean, what is anyone going to do? Everyone seems to know he's a cop, so I don't think anyone is going to start anything. The law is on my side! Not that I used this advantage to be a dick or anything, but it was kind of awesome.
The band even seemed to have groupies. |
And it's not like bars in the US are particularly dodgy, in pretty much all of the "dive bars" I went to felt safer than many of the places I've been to in Canberra. There just seems to be a lower propensity for violence in American bars, everyone seems to be more relaxed. Fucking crazy right? Gun toting, warmongering Americans are more chilled than Australians!? Seems fucking wacky, but again and again I found this to be true. Even the bros I came across in college towns such as Laramie seemed to be far more easy going then many of the bogans I've had altercations with in the past. I just don't think Americans drink to the excess that Australians do.
Anyway, back on topic. Everett and I were drinking at the "white" bar, where I got to talking to one of Everett's associates who seemed very happy to finally be able to introduce his lady-friend to Everett. Then he and I walked over to the adjoining section which contained a live band. Everett knew singer of the band, and seemed to have some sort of free reign in the bar, because we then just waltzed up to the backstage area. Here was some sort of green room, with photos of all the bands that had played at this club. Now I was pretty fucked up at the time, but I think some of these bands were fairly big names. Maybe Areosmith?
Put your shirt on! |
Next Everett thought it'd be fun to show me the "black" bar, so he basically said "hold on to my arm", and then "guided" me the through the very crowded venue. I remember being shoved around a whole lot. It seemed like either the patrons didn't like me there or that I was just bumping against them. But I was kind of glad that our tour of the bar was a brief one.
After drinking enough for the night, Everett and I completed the American drunken experience and purchased a shit-ton of Taco Bell. That night I'm pretty sure I had two tacos where the shell was made out of Doritos, some sort of "supreme crunch" thing and nachos. Shortly after I passed out on Everett's couch.
The next morning we were both feeling a little worse for wear, but Everett was good enough to make me breakfast. Including American bacon! God I miss American bacon. Fortunately by this point in my trip I'd drunk enough alcohol and ate enough shitty food that I could shake it off pretty quickly.
I bid Everett goodbye as one of my most positive couch surfing experiences (by the way, I didn't pay for a single drink that night!), and head off for Michigan. I really hope that Everett and I cross paths again one day, Fort Wayne was only meant to be a stopover but I had one of my best nights out there!
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