Do Ya Know What It Means?

In honor of my Sunday Treme watching, I figured I'd post tonight about one of my most favorite New Orleans experiences.

It wasn't long after Katrina, I had just gotten back in the city and, needless to say, everything was chaotic. People were freaked out. Everyone was saying stuff about New Orleans being a lost cause, and that there was no need to rebuild. It was pretty shitty. I had school coming up. A bunch of my friends from school and from regular life were still away...would they return? No one really knew.

It was that sort of restlessness and turmoil and depression that everyone was going through that made the bars the meeting places. Upon returning to town, my first stop was my local bar (which I will report on in more detail in a later post) to see which of my friends were back, where everyone who wasn't back was, and how everyone was doing.

It was during this time that I met one of the most wonderful, colorful characters that I've ever had the pleasure of meeting in my entire life. Mr. Walter Payton. No, not this Walter Payton. This Walter Payton.

I walked into my local haunt one evening and saw one of my best friends talking to this gentleman at the end of the bar. So, I walked on in there, had a seat next to them, ordered my usual Miller High Life, and began talking to them.

Now, I was a 21-year-old Tulane student. This guy could have brushed me off as a youngster who knew nothing in life or about the city or anything yet (it wasn't all that long ago, but I really had waaaay less knowledge of the world then than I do now...and I know I still have a lot yet to learn). But he listened to my gripes, my worries and concerns, and everything else I had to say about post-K life in New Orleans with a sympathetic and wise ear, and then he told me one of the best things I've ever heard in my life.

He said something to this effect. I don't remember direct quotes, sadly. But this is what he said:

Once you live in New Orleans...and really live here...it gets to you. It gets inside you. Something in you changes forever. And even if you move away, you'll never get that feeling out. It's the River that does that to people. The River gives makes music. It puts off a note. An F note...The note of love. Once you experience that, you will never be the same.

Then, I thought it was probably the coolest thing I've ever heard and the best reason why every New Orleanian past and present is a die-hard. Now, when I think about him saying that, it makes me want to cry because I miss that place so much. I miss the laid back. I miss the late nights of good friends and good times. I miss everything being a reason to celebrate. I miss the whole city, good and bad (and believe me, there was lots of bad, which is why I moved away).

But, the bottom line is that Mr. Payton is one of the coolest, sweetest people I have ever met. He took the time to listen to a dumbass Tulane kid, and he gave me some of the best words of wisdom that I will ever receive if I live to be 115 years old. He is a true New Orleanian (no matter where he lives) and he will beat your ass at the hand-slap game (the one where you put your hands under someone's and try to slap their hands...and vice-versa) EVERY FREAKING TIME.

If I ever see him again, I would love to give him a big hug, buy him a drink, and tell him what a huge impact he made on me...a silly white girl Tulane kid...when I was at a very low point.

Thank you, Mr. Payton!