FALLING FAR FROM THE TREE
KYLE COOKE
Idid something nice for the Class of 1982 on Tuesday. I turned 59 before any of the rest of them to light the way and show them it’s not so bad being almost 60.
I missed starting first grade in 1969 by five days due to the age cutoff, so I had to go to kindergarten a second time and then start first grade in 1970. I was always the oldest person in class and was 18 my entire senior year.
So far, it’s not so bad. —kwc— I heard the N-word for the first time in a long time the other day. It threw me off and I (kind of) pretended I didn’t hear him and said, “What?”
A black woman had pulled in just before me to gas up at CEFCO and I pulled up on the other side of the pumps, but catty corner.
This white dude pulls up right across from me. I was gassing up and looking at my phone. The girl finished filling her tank, started her car and took off. When she started the car, the radio was on fairly loud but not unusually so.
White guy say s , “I thought that (N-word with a hard R)’s radio was gonna tear my car up!”
I should have stood up and said, “Did you really just say ‘the N-word’?”
But I didn’t. And didn’t even think of it until later.
And what kind of vibe was I giving off to make him think he could just use that word to me without any issue? I had just judged a pet contest. I had on a red T-shirt with a pug on the front. And khaki shorts.
And in case you’re wondering what he said after I said “what?” He repeated the sentence verbatim. Including the N-word.
It’s been 58 years since the Civ il Rights Act of 1964. The N-word is something that should have been retired a long time ago. But it won’t be retired until you stop saying it. Parents, what are you teaching your kids? —kwc— The pet show at the Backyard Farmer’s Market was a lot of fun and they even asked if I would be a judge. The other judges were Milam County Judge-Elect Bill Whitmire and his beautiful wife, Melissa.
It started raining just before the show started, but it wasn’t a heavy rain. Even so, all the pets did very well and, if you know me, all got high marks from me.
There are photos of the winners on page 8A in the categories of best hairdo, best tricks and best costume.
And the best part of the whole day was that three animal rescues were there to get some adoptions. The Rockdale Dog Shelter had two adoptions that day, Milam Touch of Love had one and Charlyne’s Pound Puppies had one adoption. Way to show up, Rockdale!
There was also a new group of rescuers there. But instead of dogs and cats, they rescue horses and had three on display on Saturday. Mystic Meadows Pony Rescue adopted out two of their three horses. How cool is that?
From my understanding you just need to have a nice place for the horses to stay, a farrier and a vet and you can have them. I’m sure they will check out your place to make sure all is well, but what a nice service to offer for horses who have been working all their lives. You can reach Mystic Meadows Pony Rescue at 979-2714211 kyle@rockdalereporter.com
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