7/2
We drove back to Clinton to celebrate the Super Wife’s birthday, and to see the Doobie Brothers. She felt like talking so she, her Mom and sister, just went on and on. Fine, I understand that, but the concert does have a time set. They kept talking, I kept telling myself to just relax. She figured since there was an opening act there was no rush. Of course that is making the assumption the opening act isn’t anybody we’d want to see. I don’t know who the opener is. Maybe I’d like to see them. More stress. Relax. Relax.

They talked and talked, but that's okay, I understand. Women talk, they need to, and men interfere at their own peril. Relax. We finally got there when the opening act was finishing. They were doing a cover of a Jimi Hendrix tune. Not my cup of tea, so we’re good…until we get to the gate. We had assumed we'd get one-day passes or the like but got a rude shock. At the gate they said only four-day passes are sold, they are $25 apiece, and there are no discounts for the kids. It would have cost $100 to see them. We walked away.

Super Wife convinced me to go by myself and she and the kids would go on rides. The Doobies don’t do Christian contemporary so she really wasn’t interested anyway. Eventually I agreed. I really wanted to see them. It would be so cool just to hear them play 'Blackwater' within a stone's throw of the Mississippi and a steamboat nearby. But by that time seating was impossible. I stood on the road on top of the dike. The sound was good, but they were so far away I didn't need ear plugs. I couldn't even recognize who was who unless I looked through my camera's telephoto.

Nearby was a couple with a little boy. Not to be mean, but I just couldn't believe they would shell out the money for this. I assumed they were using somebody else’s passes. People are constantly warned not to do that, but be real. The card costs $25, it has space for four punches. If you bought the cards and didn’t want to see the Doobie Brothers wouldn’t you lend the cards to someone who did?

Daddy was engrossed with the concert. Mommy talked with family and friends. Their little boy was about four or five and reminded me a lot of Train Boy. I kept an eye on him as he played behind them in the street. His Mommy may have worried I was a stalker or something. But when a small truck came by I made sure he was safe, I told her I had a son myself and was just feeling very protective. She smiled and seemed appreciative.

I think you can tell if a woman is caring for children by the size of her purse. In addition to their own necessities they carry amusements for the kids. She had balloons, bubbles and only God knows what else.

A vendor walked through selling light ropes and a lot of kids in the area got them, but not the boy I was watching. He watched the others with that sad look of doing without and it just ate me up. I went after the vendor and bought a couple of light ropes. But then what? They might not take too kindly to a stranger buying their child something, so I decided to wait.

Eventually his Mom ran out of things for him to do. The boy tried to pick up a piece of broken balloon to play with, the Mom tried to take it from him. I stepped forward and I asked the Mom if she would take one of the light ropes to give to him. She smiled and took one.

He had the best time playiing with it like the other kids. He whipped it around. Then he threw it in the air and looked for where it dropped. Then the ends were put together to make a hoop and he bounced it on the ground. It would roll and he would chase it. The boy was happy for the rest of the concert and so was I. I don't know what was going on, but as she talked to other people I saw the Mom smilingly point me out to a couple of people. When the concert was over we smiled and waved at each other and that was that.

The Doobs played a good set, but I probably watched the boy more. I have no idea what his name was but for just a little bit I helped him to be happy. That made it the most memorable Doobie Brother concert ever.