Episode 6 : Kansas City

The speaker talks about their transition from Springfield, Missouri to Kansas City in the late 80s. They discuss their plans to attend DeVry Institute and their enjoyment of studying systems analysis and programming. They also mention changing vehicles and living arrangements. They describe the Kansas City metro area and their housing situation. They talk about their experiences at DeVry and their worries about passing a specific class. They discuss their job at a furniture outlet and their co-workers. They mention a friendship with a charming con artist and their platonic relationship with a married woman. Overall, they talk about their experiences in Kansas City and their various activities during that time. Alright, welcome back to episode 6 of the Alaska Dove Chronicles, I'm your host Alaska Dove. So we're picking up on my last days in Springfield, Missouri and the close of the 80s. I had moved out of the trailer in Brighton, as you know that place just fell apart. All around us, so I think they just bulldozed it when we all moved out. And so I landed back at my folks to sort of regroup. I had plans in the fall of 89 to go up to Kansas City, move up to Kansas City and start attending the DeVry Institute, studying systems analysis, which was actually kind of cool, and programming, which I enjoyed, jumping ahead to discuss the curriculum at DeVry. A lot of it fit well with what I enjoyed. They insisted on a lot of accounting as well, which I didn't appreciate as much at the time, but in my current career, and in other people's, it was wise on their part to insist on that. So I see, and the old Jeep, it finally took enough abuse and I had to switch. So I ended up picking up sort of a glorified farm truck, it's a 66 Chevy, step side, short bed, in the classic Corps of Engineers, sort of light blue green, I'm sure you've seen some around in reservoirs, quarries, anywhere there's engineers, you know. Had some wider tires in the back, but still had the classic Chevy in line six and a three on the tree shifter. I've seen a similar rig running around here. A couple of neighbors away have one, except it's a long bed, and I guess you call it sleep side, when it's not the flat side, I digress. But it seems like about every chapter I'm changing rigs, so it was definitely time for a change of scenery. And Kansas City ended up being a great place in a lot of regards. Not much to say about the trip up there. That short narrow bed doesn't hold that much, so, well, I figured, at that time, I was in my overalls, overall phase, so a lot of faded blue denim overalls, and, you know, I was beard of varying lengths. I was rocking a mullet at the time, not the most glorious look, but to beat some of my prior hair issues, I have a very, well, I'm bald now, but I did have very contrary hair. I had something like seven cowlicks, so it was always, and super coarse, thick hair, so it always had a mind of its own, and I always, since I started rocking, I wanted to grow it long, and former military parents wanted to start getting past the collar, and it wasn't too long, it wasn't too long before off to the barber, so I was enjoying the freedom to grow my hair, which I did. What else did I have? Probably a bunch of books, clothes. I forgot to mention, back when I was with the metalhead, I ended up picking up a white Bentley electric base, and I want to say I had a crate, 50 watt amp, like a 14 inch speaker, enough to make some noise, and have some fun, besides the metal, I remember playing through Appetite for Destruction, and Dr. Feelgood, the album, not very good, proficient, probably even in tune, but, you know, sometimes you enjoy rocking out, you just need to have that enthusiasm, you know, it's for yourself, it's not for anyone else, let's see, I think I also had a 12 gauge, by that time, a Mossberg 12 gauge, so, that paints a picture for you, I had a, I was going up blind, as far as seeing physically, having been at DeVry, I passed through Kansas City, when I was going to basic training, went to Kansas City, and then from there to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, but never hung out there, so, lucked into a great place, not too far from school, so to describe the Kansas City metro area, I looked it up, at the last census, there was 1.7 million people, so, back in the 90s, to say around a million, I think is accurate, so we have the main Kansas City hub, on either side of the state line, and then you have all the, typically, former farming communities that have been enveloped as the urban areas spread out, and the suburban areas, so, your address could be all sorts of places, but you're still in the Kansas City metro, which is cool, because it's encircled by, literally, it's interstate, because I'm from Missouri to Kansas and back, but there's a, it's encircled by big highways, so, everything in there, I would say, easily, is considered part of Kansas City. I was down in Grandview, the southern part, and it was super cool, because it was a very short distance from the Blue River Parkway, which was, it's like a nature preserve boundary, on either side of the Blue River, which wasn't a very big river, you know, shallow and scenic, and kind of, you just have this green and blue way, I guess you would say, it's like a long park, just meandering through the lower portion of Kansas City. Kansas City barbecue is insane. I had three distinct barbecue zones. You'd go from smelling one, to smelling the next, to smelling the third, and I'd get to school, and I'd be hungry for barbecue, so I definitely ate my fill. Casey Burton's is where it's at, and always, you know, brisket, but you can't go wrong. You can throw a dart at barbecue places and hit a good one. I hesitate to say who my favorite was back then, but you really can't go wrong at Casey's barbecue. So here's this wild-ass hillbilly, pulling up with a blue-green pickup, old pickup, with a bed full of bass guitar speakers, and guns, and a guitar. So I'm sure I made an epic first impression. My housing was in one of these cookie-cutter cul-de-sac residential areas, duplexes, a couple blocks of duplexes before the cul-de-sac. And the housing had all been arranged through, like, the derived bulletin board, you know, off-campus housing bulletin board. So I had already arranged for a room in a four-bedroom house of a duplex with two ladies and one dude. I want to say I know the guy, and one of the girls was from Kansas. Probably the second lady was from Missouri. So kind of a weird, weird dynamic. I think the ladies pretty much either were in the rooms, or off at their parents', or boyfriends', maybe. I don't recall too many boyfriends coming around, hanging out. So I think maybe one was engaged, thinking back. So, quiet, bookworm-y, all-derived students. I was the only freshman. But the real ruler of the house was this charming con artist, who was the other dude. And he actually had a huge influence on my life. For such a short acquaintance, the impact was really disproportionate. As you will see down the road. So classes went pretty well. I did have this dread down the line in that, I guess, one class of the final semester is professional development. And without passing that class, you can't get your degree. And they didn't let any of the stoner-looking heads pass. There's people who look like rock stars from the 60s up until their last week of school, and get that professional cut, and go to the final exam of the professional development class, which is a mock interview. So that was always a zoom-in. I'd talk about a mullet, and putting your identity into your hair. Looking back, I guess. I don't know. Now, anybody rocking a mullet now is definitely doing that. Back then, it was just, I was keeping it out of my eyes. And I was, everyone who lived in the 80s and 90s has hair regrets. Moving on from there, had to have some employment. So I lucked out there as well. I worked at one place. First place I applied, it was as a warehouseman, which I have background in, at an outlet, a furniture outlet in Montgomery Wards. So moving a lot of sofas, chairs, refrigerators, washers, dryers. So being a big guy was helpful. And had a couple other co-workers that were there the whole time as well. One was also a student who was, I think he was about to graduate. So I worked there like a year, year and a half. And I think he was there. I can't recall anyone new coming in. There was three people, three people. So one was a student who was also a soccer player. He liked to party a little bit. And there was another guy who was super nice. He had a great jeep. And super straight, hunter, religious, nice guy, you know, just biggest heart. So he was a really great guy. And then probably of my co-workers, probably the one I got closest to was this great kid. His girlfriend, fiance, lived pretty much across the street from me. So we had that proximity which helped. And where he lived with her was more like an apartment community with a pool and a communal building you could rent out. So that was a nice place to go hang out. Back then I was far more social than I am now. And plus having this con man who, I don't think he had any wheels, so I'm sure I was being his chauffeur for a while. But, you know, he was just fun and charming. So you know you're being conned, like I want to use air quotes, conned and air quote manipulated. But he's like winking at you at the same time. So you're like, both no, but I don't know. The amount of time we were together and the capacity that it occurred, it was fun. But it was definitely traits that kind of leave burnt bridges behind you. And I had seen that play out as we got to know each other. But between us, we were cool. And I got to check out Lawrence, Kansas, which is a great place. Through an association of him and friends that we made together that were his and then became mine. Yeah, that's kind of how that went. And so yeah, stable employment. This place was cool. It was close to the Harry S. Truman farm home. So he's known for being from Independence, Missouri. But this was in Grandview, I guess where he was in his childhood. So at 20 minutes in, I don't know if I... Okay, let's try. So basically just partied, studied, had fun. No serious relationship until we had a new sales associate at the outlet. And she was sweet, cute. She was charming too. And ended up having a spark between us. But seeing as how she was married, and I don't play that cheating thing, it was unacted upon. As time progressed, and we had a friendship, we had a legitimate friendship, and it was platonic. It was perhaps wanted to be different by both, but still unacted upon. So her marriage was already distressed. Infidelity from him for years, super controlling. It was bad. And she decided, I can't remember what the final straw was. I know he was abusive. But she called me to come pick her up and take her to the shelter. Which I did. I arrived. She was packing up. And while she was preparing to leave, he arrives. He confronts her. We keep packing to leave. He comes out of the bedroom with a .22 rifle and aims it at me. And I'm inside, I'm shitting my pants, but I stand my ground and somehow don't get shot. And I'm able to leave with her to take her to the shelter downtown. And I can't recall if she ended up going back temporarily, shortly, but it was the final break, really, in the long run. She went from the shelter to her, moving in with her mother and grandmother, who were actually pretty well off. So it was weird that she was kept, like, impoverished by his overreaching control. And like, power, power driven. He was a little tiny guy, like in every regard, in every respect, like, not just physically. But her, her, her mother and grandmother had this nice place. Somewhere in one of the northern towns around Kansas City. And I remember she was an artist. She had some great stories. So she was an artist. And of course, she, she had a studio. She had a studio and a business, actually. Yeah, she had people work for her. But one of her things, I don't know if it was what she did. I can't recall if she did that, but currently, or had prior been a courtroom sketch artist. And I guess, I don't know if it's common knowledge that Kansas City has a colorful underworld background and history. And I guess during some, I guess it was not uncommon during some legal proceedings in which she was employed that, let's see, gratitude was expressed for the favorable artistic representation that certain grateful individuals received. And not that she had forethought as to profiting from it. But I think she had a sympathetic eye. And that's what she caught and put down. And, you know, regardless of the facts of the case. Just like in the public eye to, to, to represent certain individuals in a way that's different than, like, say, the rest of the press does, who's, you know, looking for the headlines. Anyhow, I, it was an interesting bunch of ladies. Our life ended up coming together while I was still a student. And, and spending a lot of time on the highway, going from school and living and working south of Kansas City to where she lived up north. I'll try to recall my memory before, before the next episode. But speaking of the next episode, I think this is a good place to close. This was right around 1990. Seeing, seeing what the new decade holds. So until next time, be good folks.