Before I even recognized the song carrying through the book shop, I instantly flashed to my high school days, and lunch hour in particular. Funny how memories can be triggered by our senses. It was a Moody Blues song.
The technology was a bit different back then. Eight-track tapes were on their way out and cassettes were the latest thing. The latest from the Moody Blues was called Every Good Boy Deserves Favour and several members of our lunchtime group were fans.
Maybe it’s different now, but McAlester High School had an open campus and students had the option of eating in the cafeteria or finding a nearby restaurant. The catch was – the lunch hour was only thirty minutes or so. Fast food is faster these days. Back then, a hamburger patty didn’t hit the grill until it was ordered, which had us spending more time waiting than eating.
It’s been enough years that I can probably mention our first destination (since I’m sure no one remembers it…) was called the Copper Kettle. Probably was spelled Kopper Kettle because that’s how things were done back then. It was on the north side of Choctaw Avenue and they made such a fine diner burger that we actually had to towel-dry the grease-spattered top of the bun before we could pick it up. Big fries.
Hard to find those kind of burgers these days. (Hard to upload pictures of them too. Had to settle for a pic of Grandpa Ray at his lunch counter…)
We hatched up a plan that would allow us more time for eating instead of time waiting for those burger buns to get grease-ified. If the cook could just start frying ahead of our arrival, we could cruise in and chow down, pay up, and head out.
The Kopper Kettle chef didn’t go for that plan.
When we decided to try the drive-in on Carl Albert Parkway, the time element was more apparent. It took even longer to get from the school’s parking lot to theirs. As I remember it, we were settling the lunch bill and one of us asked if we could go ahead and order for the next day. The woman at the register wondered what they would do with all that food if we didn’t show up.
If one of us couldn’t make it, we promised, we would find a replacement eater. And if we couldn’t find someone to come eat the pre-ordered lunch, the rest of us would chip in and pay for it.
We Promised.
She bought the idea and we bought the lunches. To my knowledge, we honored our commitment and never left the proprietor hanging for a tab. And every day on the way from McAlester High School to that little drive-in restaurant we listened to loud music on the car stereo.
It never was my music since I was riding a motorcycle for part of the year and later driving a British two-seater (after the motorcycle wreck) – so, I got to hear songs I might not have otherwise.
Mostly, I remember David steering-wheel-guitar-playing to his Woodstock soundtrack, so maybe it was Joe, or Phil, or Paul – aw heck, I can’t remember just who it was that had the new Moody Blues tape. But we got enough of it on that relatively short drive to learn the words to the song choruses while digesting our steak-finger baskets, burger baskets, and foot-long cheese coneys.
Today, I was thinking about our four-man lunch sorties and the Moody Blues with their fuzz-guitar, dah-dah-dah-daaaaah, dah-dah-dah-daaaah, and the verse leading up to the chorus….
Listen to the tide slowly turning
Wash all our heartaches away
We’re part of the fire that is burning
And from the ashes we can build another day
And listening to that song, it suddenly didn’t seem like so very long ago.
We don’t have a greasy burger on our menu but we’ll get you in and out on your lunch hour with something tasty, so…
Come visit!
McHuston
Booksellers & Irish Bistro
Rose District
122 South Main St. Broken Arrow OK!
