Last night, Sunday, September 26, I went to my listening post. A "biker's bar" called "Flossies" located in Dania, FL. I found this particular bar on an actual site called "bars4bikers.com". It lists all the places in FL that are designated bars for bikers alike. I chose this particular location because it was located not too far from my home. Upon arriving, I was in for quite a surprise. I had actually set myself up to think that upon arrival, the bar would appear to be NOTHING as I had imagined. And boy- was I wrong. Or rather- I was RIGHT.Flossie's Biker Bar was PACKED with parked bikes, inked-up people, and of course- not a SINGLE "ethnic" face around. I was dressed in all black since the website said "We allow club colors." Now, as a young woman who spent many summers and winters inbetween 3 out the 5 main boroughs in New York, I knew that the safest color to sport in any territory was "all black". However, I most definitely came "over-dressed" in black and gold heels, black skinny jeans, and a ruffled, v-neck blouse.
I made a u-turn, pulled over, and called my father in New York.
"Dad- I am SO scared. This place is everything I thought it would be. There is not a single black person in sight. I'm not going to survive!"
My father found this EXTREMELY amusing and laughed in-between explaining to me that I would be fine. See, my father used to be a cross-state truck-driver and has found himself at truck stops in many rural central Florida areas. He said the people at the bar would be of no harm to me.
I immediately parked and walked up to the location in which I was greeted with MANY stares. I went straight for the bar and sat down. The bartender, Sandy, was very pleasent- as she asked me for my drink order.
Upon ordering, an older, white male- "Ross" found his way over to me and asked me:
"You do know you're at a biker's bar, right?"
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph- I had no clue if this question was rhetorical. I thought if I didn't answer quick- his next statement would be "We don't like your kind!"
Now- I am not proud of all these terrible stereotypes I conjured up prior to my trip. I am not proud at all. But I am also not too proud to admit that these infectious thoughts did in fact lie within me.
I answered in-between a shy laugh that I was in fact very aware of where I was.
Ross took a seat next to me and said "I was just asking."
When our drinks arrived he asked me what brought me out there. I was honest and told him about our class assignment. He was extremely intrigued and said I was a "brave girl" for coming out there.
I found this as the perfect opportunity to ask him why. And I'm glad I did.
For starters, I want to make this clear. "Ross", 71 years old (72 on October 27th. However, he looked like 55.) kept confusing and joking that I was "investigating" the place. I explained to him in-between laughs and serious moments that this was far from the case. I told him the objective of the project and I said I was "observing", not "investigating". Investigating would mean that I am looking for something bad- when in fact, I was simply there to observe and not disrupt the environment at all.
Anyway- back to our conversation.
When I had asked Ross why is it that he found it admirable and brave of me to come out alone to Flossies, he explained "because of what the media and movies make these places out to be". He said that Flossies is in fact, an extremely friendly environment. He mentioned that out of the three years he has been there, he has never seen a fight or anything close to a public display of confrontation.
He introduced me to another man at the bar, "Miguel", who was the first to show befriend him upon his initial visit to Flossies. Clearly, these people were regulars, and that was comforting to know. Miguel was extremely friendly and Ross explained to him why I was there. He was far from offended and in fact asked me about coming back, in which I said I would be.
During the entirety of our conversation, I began to be more and more intrigued and thankful for Ross's uncandidness towards me. It was great to learn so much more about the bikers at Flossies. He explained that many people are war veternarians that come in to discuss a number of stories, successful business owners who find biking to be a hobby (he himself has owned a Fork-lifting company for 30+ years), owners of other large machinery (he and Miguel are boat-owners), and overall- many of them were humanitarians. As a matter of fact, many of the bikers will be up In Tallahassee for a charity event as well as West Palm Beach for the months of October and November, in which I was invited to the West Palm Beach charity / riding event.
So much more that I could blog about- but honestly, I'd be rambling. I plan to discuss more in class as well as answer ANY questions in my comment section.
Overall, I beyond enjoyed my visit. A friend of Ross's (whom he claimed he only met that same day. A lady by the name of "Shiela") said that Ross was attracted to me because of my "gorgeous, juicy lips". The compliment flattered me and made me very aware (and ok) that it was no secret to these people here that I was black. Clealy, my fuller lips is one of my many "racial" features that seperates me from the white race- but it was nice to know that being black was welcomed- since I doubted it before.
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