Here is how Bar Fines are designed to work in Olongapo:
You pay the girl’s bar fine to the Mama San
You get a receipt.
You take your ‘rental’ to your room.
You fuck her.
Sometimes you feed her first.
Thusly sated, satisfied, you cast her away.
Here is how bar fines are not designed to work:
You do NOT Lose it. (Your receipt)
You broke it; you bought it.
You hand over your receipt to your rental so she can leave you.
Well, that is the short version.
The thing is, in Olongapo, Bar Girls walking about on Magsaysay Blvd, alone, without a bar fine receipt are considered in the eyes of the law to be ‘common’ street walkers. And subject to arrest.
And thrown under the jail.
For months.
So what was the very first thing I did with Mary-Lou Perucho?
I handed over my Bar Fine Receipt.
“Here ya go Darling. Put this in your pocket. Don’t lose it. Now shall we go to my hotel?”
“Sure.” She said nervously.
So we went to my cheap hotel. I had no intention of having sex with her. I was just lonely as I have mentioned. I just wanted to talk with her. Get to know her (not in that biblical sense—in that humane sense—I was lonely and she reminded me of an old High School sweetheart…)
I had been drinking (duh), so I excused myself after I had parked her in front of the television. I went to the head, took a piss. Came back. She was gone.
She had left me.
Guess she thought I was gonna try to fuck her.
( I had no such intentions)
But who could blame her for leaving?
I weighed in at two-hundred pounds and change.
She was, soaking wet, about ninety eight.
If I had fucked her, I might have broken her.
But apparently caution being the better part of smart told her to bug out.
And I had given her, her pass:
The Bar Fine Receipt.
It made me sad that I had not expressed well enough my benevolent propensity.
Of course, like the asshole I was, I went back to Viva Young the next afternoon and complained to Mama San. I wanted my money back. My rental had left me.
Mama San was not amused, but in the spirit of good customer service, she fired Mary Lou.
This was NOT the outcome I wanted.
So now was I not just an asshole, but a stellar asshole.
I would have to search out Mary Lou and attempt to make things right.
All I truly wanted was a pretty girl to lay down beside me and hold my hand and listen to my stories…
Matt, Rogers, and I were in Viva Young, Olongapo City. I had been struck by The Thunderbolt. Rog was buying the beer for the next ten years. Matt was drawing a charcoal portrait on a cocktail napkin of a sweet, young lovely Filipina with a glass eye. Mama-San was not happy.
My Primary Problem:
Mama-San
SNAFU (‘Situation Normal: All Fucked Up’)
My Secondary Problem:
‘Thunderbolt Smitten Status’
Breaks down like this:
The ‘Smite-he’—Me—couldn’t get close enough to the ‘Smite-er—Her—she proved elusive, un-approachable, un-attainable, closely watched overby Mama-the Big-She-San.
Yes. It was all very confounding, convoluted, and complicated.
***
Matt and I retired to the pool tables. Me hoping to fleece him outta some beer money—He hoping for good conversation, free billiard lessons, and some Lance Good-Natured Wolf-Ticket Talk.
(Rog had declined my offer of a double-or-nothing eight-ball re-match)
But Matt was willing and ‘free’, as the Filipina ‘model’ for his napkin art had been compelled (by Mama-San) to taxi onto the runway.
He also knew I would take it easy on him and his wallet. I only truly enjoyed taking Rog’s money, no one else’s. Well, except for the occasional Jar-Head’s, even though the fleecing of ‘Marine-Sheeps’ could, and often did prove somewhat problematical, health-wise—my health-wise.
Matt and I both were getting what we wanted until…
Until Pain walked in.
Pain (his real name) was my roommate back when I was in BUD/s Class 140, 1986.
Pain was a pain in the ass.
He was a tow-head boy, weighing in at about one-hundred and fifty. One-hundred-fifty pounds of attitude. Bad attitude.
Peanut sans the good to outweigh the bad. I did not appreciate his style.
Nor his presence.
One of My Girls, (yes they were ‘mine’—this was My Bar, wasn’t it?) brought me a beer and said,
“Hey! Dat guy jus’ walk in, he Naa-bee-steeel.”
“Yes Honey. I know him.”
“He yor pren?”
(Filipinas have some difficulty pronouncing the letter ‘F’)
“Nope. He’s trouble, and thanks for the beer.”
Still holding my pool cue, I walked over to Pain.
“Hey Pain!” I said. “How’s it been hangin’?”
“Whaaa?? Hey. Uh…Oh, don’t I know you from somewhere? Oh yeah. Buds. Back in ’86.”
“Yeah,” I said. “Class One-Forty. You were my roommate for about a week until I got you kicked out of the room for smacking my other roommate upside the head.”
“Yeah, you were a little snitch-bitch. An’ your other roommate was an idiot.”
“Don’t think so. He was my Friend.”
“What was yer name? Mark… Clark… something or other… Mark..um…?”
“Yeah, that’s right. Marcom.”
“You rocked out didn’t ya?”
“Yeah, I rocked out. Got hurt. Apparently you made it. In SEALs.”
“Got ‘hurt’ eh? Whatever. Yeah, I didn’t rock out.”
“Good for you.”
“Wanna beer?”
“No Pain, I do not. What I want is for you to take your ass outta here. You see, this bar is for ‘Black Shoe Sailors’—Fleet Sailors—only. This is Our bar, and we don’t really want any prima-donnas hangin’ out here swillin’ beer and breathin’ air. This bar—MY Bar—is a private bar, so… mosey on The Fuck On.”
“I go where I please. Fuck you!”
“Excuse me, but this ain’t your kind of place. This joint’s not big e’nuff to house your inflated Navy Spec-War ego; I suggest you SEAL-Flop your fishy-smellin’ ass on down to The California Club. It’s close to Shit River on Magsaysay—can’t miss it—look for the neon that says, ‘Morons Welcome’. The ceilings have high enough clearance for your big head, and there’s lots of girls. You and your ego and your attitude and your money will be welcome there.”
“You’re pissing me off.”
By this point, I had unconsciously reversed my grip on the pool cue, turning it into a baseball bat. Matt came up to my shoulder and whispered,
“Uh… Lance, don’t do it.”
I had forty pounds on Pain. I could take him with or without the pool cue-turned-seal-smasher.
Mama-San, ever astute, came up to me and said,
“Sailor Man, you need sit down.”
I said, “Mama-San, Not until this asshole leaves.”
She said, “Okay, but you gonna pix the purniture.”
Standing two heads high over him, I turned back to Pain, “You need to leave Son.”
Apparently a light suddenly lit and he, making good use of his ‘situational awareness’ said, “Maybe I’ll check out that California Club after all.” And left.
The Jar Heads on the other side of the bar applauded. One said with a belly-laugh,
“Hoo-Ah Squiddy! That guy’s an asshole! Seen him around town.”
“Thanks,” I said, pitching my cue-stick to Matt, who clumsily failed to catch it, spilling his beer in the attempt as he watched the cue bounce off the deck.
I laughed at Matt then yelled, “Hey! Mama-San! Send me an’ Matt ah coupla beers! I just saw my life flash!”
(Not really. I fear no man, but it makes for good prose, eh?)
“You can’t hide the thunderbolt. When it hits you, everybody can see it. Christ Man! Don’t be ashamed of it, some men pray for the thunderbolt. You’re a very lucky fellow.”
– Calo (‘The Godfather’)
***
Matt, Rogers, and I settled into the bar–after I had paid my respects to Mama-San.
“Mama! Where you been all my life?” I yelled, pulling her up from her chair and kissing her hard on the lips.
She managed to untangle herself from my affections and pushed me away. “You go to sit down and spend some money Sailor-Man,” she said gruffly, trying to conceal the smile that was betraying her true feeling.
Since it was still relatively early and the joint pretty much dead, Rog and I decided to shoot some pool.
Now I must tell you, gentle readers, I am a pool hustler, and Rog was a gambler.
Good for me.
Bad for him.
After about an hour of eight ball, Rog owed me all the beer in Olongapo and his First Born. Wasn’t really interested in the First Born (I had seen the baby pictures and the baby dipped snuff just like his daddy)
So I told him to keep the First Born, but get busy with the beers. We sat back down at the bar next to Matt who was in some kind of deep philosophical discussion with a very petite young bar girl who appeared to have a glass eye.
Matt is a gentleman and this girl had warmed up to him.
Rog and I were not gentlemen so we interrupted their conversation.
“Hey Matt! Rog here’s buyin’ the beer for the next ten years. Name your poison.”
“I’d like a glass of wine,” Matt said softly.
“What?!” Rog and I both exclaimed in unison.
Matt was The Artist. So I suppose this was to be expected: This Un-Naval-Like Bullshit Talk would come out the side of his neck from time to time.
“Mama-San!” I yelled over my shoulder. “Ya got any Pinto Greegee-oh?”
“Goddamn chew!” she yelled back. “Go to fuck you!” I turned to Matt, “Sorry Buddy. Fresh out. How ‘bout a beer? On Rog here. He be buyin’”.
“Sure,” he said softly, not even looking at us.
“Oh shit Rog,” I said. “Matt here done gone off into ‘That Place’ again.”
I glanced over at Matt, now busily drawing on a cocktail napkin what appeared to be a rather flattering portrait of the girl. She had placed her head on his shoulder and her arm around his waist.
“Yeah, Rog. I suppose yer right.”
Rogers and I traded wolf tickets for an hour or so, and then aimed our affections at some Marines who had recently shown up. Things were about to grow unpleasant when the regular shift of girls came strolling in. This stopped the impending war between the Navy and the Marine Corps as the music got loud and the girls took to the runway.
I knew all the girls on the evening shift. They were my friends. But I spotted a girl I did not know. ‘Spotted’ is probably not the right word. ‘Witnessed’ (Think ‘Baptist Revival’ here) might be more appropriate. She was the spitting image of my high school sweetheart. (No, I wasn’t really that drunk).
OK, not exactly the spitting image but let us say the Ornamental Version of a spitting image.
Thunderbolt!
Boom!
I just had to have some ‘chat’ with her.
And By God, I would.
Or die.
I became useless for the rest of the evening.
***
I have spent far too much time in the Far East.
This will be continued…
Right here:Scroll to the Below:
A girl walks into a bar.
***
I went over to Mama-San, “Hey who’s the new girl?”
“What new girl?”
“The one with the long brown hair,” I said.
“Goddam-chew! They all have long brown hair. Where you think you are Sailor-Boy, Malibu?”
“No. I mean that girl,” I said, pointing.
“Oh ‘That Girl’” she said. “She’s new, and don’t bother her.”
“Yes, I know she’s new. That’s my point, for fuck sake.”
“Leave her alone. She off-you-limits.”
“Bullshit off-limits. She reminds me of someone,” I said.
“Don’t we all? That’s what we do here. We sell the memories. We in the ‘She-reminds-me-of-someone’ sellin’ memory business. But she, that one, she off-you-limits. No for sale.”
“I don’t want to buy her; I just wanna talk to her.”
“Go-to-Fuk-Chew! You want talk? Talk me! You butterfly.” She huffed back toward her desk.
“Butterfly?” I yelled at her back.
She turned on her heel, “You butterfly. You float from flower to flower.”
I stared at ‘New Girl’ while wondering how I was going to get around Mama-San…So I could have my
I Have Expended An Inordinate Amount Of My Life Floating About In The South Pacific. Dutifully Trying To Protect Your Way-of-Life. I LOVE My U.S. NAVY!
You’ve Got To Be Carefully Taught” – SOUTH PACIFIC
Please Read It
I’m Stuck On A Thing On A Thing Called “Hope”
I Poured My Heart Into ‘Building’ It (This Was Not The Out-Come I Required/Nor Desired)
“Part Six of A Sailor’s Scholarly History of the South Pacific:
Mary-Lou and Mama-San and Gainful Unemployment”
Sorry for my profanity: I am a sailor after all)”
Bloody Mary
Fun Little Known Fact:
Most of the Actors in this Scene Are Gay
Hahahahah!
“What ain’t we got? We Ain’t Got Dames.”
I love this movie.
I have spent far too much of my life in the South Pacific.
Cred: Rodgers & Hammerstein
Here is how Bar Fines are designed to work in Olongapo:
You pay the girl’s bar fine to the Mama San
You get a receipt.
You take your ‘rental’ to your room.
You fuck her.
Sometimes you feed her first.
Thusly sated, satisfied, you cast her away.
Here is how bar fines are not designed to work:
You do NOT Lose it. (Your receipt)
You broke it; you bought it.
You hand over your receipt to your rental so she can leave you.
Well, that is the short version.
The thing is, in Olongapo, Bar Girls walking about on Magsaysay Blvd, alone, without a bar fine receipt are considered in the eyes of the law to be ‘common’ street walkers. And subject to arrest.
And thrown under the jail.
For months.
So what was the very first thing I did with Mary-Lou Perucho?
I handed over my Bar Fine Receipt.
“Here ya go Darling. Put this in your pocket. Don’t lose it. Now shall we go to my hotel?”
“Sure.” She said nervously.
So we went to my cheap hotel. I had no intention of having sex with her. I was just lonely as I have mentioned. I just wanted to talk with her. Get to know her (not in that biblical sense—in that humane sense—I was lonely and she reminded me of an old High School sweetheart…)
I had been drinking (duh), so I excused myself after I had parked her in front of the television. I went to the head, took a piss. Came back. She was gone.
She had left me.
Guess she thought I was gonna try to fuck her.
( I had no such intentions)
But who could blame her for leaving?
I weighed in at two-hundred pounds and change.
She was, soaking wet, about ninety eight.
If I had fucked her, I might have broken her.
But apparently caution being the better part of smart told her to bug out.
And I had given her, her pass:
The Bar Fine Receipt.
It made me sad that I had not expressed well enough my benevolent propensity.
Of course, like the asshole I was, I went back to Viva Young the next afternoon and complained to Mama San. I wanted my money back. My rental had left me.
Mama San was not amused, but in the spirit of good customer service, she fired Mary Lou.
This was NOT the outcome I desired.
So now was I not just an asshole, but a stellar asshole.
I would have to search out Mary Lou and attempt to make things right.
All I truly wanted was a pretty girl to lay down beside me and hold my hand and listen to my stories…
And keep me company.
And pretend as if she cared.
Just pretend.
I’ll pay you.
After we pulled out of Olongapo, I sent her money every month for a lot of months. When we eventually returned to Ologapo after some months I looked her up and gave her a bunch of gifts I had purchased with her in my mind in Hong Kong. She really was not impressed. Hurt my feelings.
Here is how Bar Fines are designed to work in Olongapo:
You pay the girl’s bar fine to the Mama San
You get a receipt.
You take your ‘rental’ to your room.
You fuck her.
Sometimes you feed her first.
Thusly sated, satisfied, you cast her away.
Here is how bar fines are not designed to work:
You do NOT Lose it. (Your receipt)
You broke it; you bought it.
You hand over your receipt to your rental so she can leave you.
Well, that is the short version.
The thing is, in Olongapo, Bar Girls walking about on Magsaysay Blvd, alone, without a bar fine receipt are considered in the eyes of the law to be ‘common’ street walkers. And subject to arrest.
And thrown under the jail.
For months.
So what was the very first thing I did with Mary-Lou Perucho?
I handed over my Bar Fine Receipt.
“Here ya go Darling. Put this in your pocket. Don’t lose it. Now shall we go to my hotel?”
“Sure.” She said nervously.
So we went to my cheap hotel. I had no intention of having sex with her. I was just lonely as I have mentioned. I just wanted to talk with her. Get to know her (not in that biblical sense—in that humane sense—I was lonely and she reminded me of an old High School sweetheart…)
I had been drinking (duh), so I excused myself after I had parked her in front of the television. I went to the head, took a piss. Came back. She was gone.
She had left me.
Guess she thought I was gonna try to fuck her.
( I had no such intentions)
But who could blame her for leaving?
I weighed in at two-hundred pounds and change.
She was, soaking wet, about ninety eight.
If I had fucked her, I might have broken her.
But apparently caution being the better part of smart told her to bug out.
And I had given her, her pass:
The Bar Fine Receipt.
It made me sad that I had not expressed well enough my benevolent propensity.
Of course, like the asshole I was, I went back to Viva Young the next afternoon and complained to Mama San. I wanted my money back. My rental had left me.
Mama San was not amused, but in the spirit of good customer service, she fired Mary Lou.
This was NOT the outcome I wanted.
So now was I not just an asshole, but a stellar asshole.
I would have to search out Mary Lou and attempt to make things right.
All I truly wanted was a pretty girl to lay down beside me and hold my hand and listen to my stories…
And keep me company.
And pretend as if she cared. For just for a Fleetin’ monument
