The R.S.A.
by Adam & Lara on 04/18/10
Screw you, friends. We're hanging out with old people from now on.
Alright we didn't mean that. We can have the best of both worlds since some of you are just like old people in your own little way. Our friend John goes to bed at about 8:30pm. Brian and Leah go out to bars and play Farkle. Nick is sometimes unable to control what comes out of his mouth. And you can frequently see Pete driving his '52 Studebaker uptown to see the penny matinee at the nickelodeon.
But nothing beats the hospitality of a tried and true Kiwi geezer. We got a tip from the owner of a tobacconist/barbershop in Napier that if you go into the local R.S.A. (Returned and Services Association - NZ equivalent of the Legion Hall) and chat it up with the old dudes, they'll eventually invite you to stay the night in their parking lot for free. So we rolled into the Napier R.S.A. that night.
Visitors welcome, peace freaks get the f*ck out.
1 beer later, we were sitting with Serfie, Jonesie, and Fox discussing the weather, peace freaks, the business of tire sales and of course 'Nam.
2 beers later (these beers were on Serfie) we not only had an invitation to spend the night in their lot, but we also had Serfie's address and home phone number in case we needed to shower or do laundry. We spent the rest of the night drinking free beers and talking about 1980's rugby mustaches.
Reading between the lines, we bet that the Terry Wright who lived below that mustache was not a very hard bastard.
2 weeks later we hit up the R.S.A. in Motueka. We had a beer with Gary and Barbara and they invited us to Gary's 70th birthday party the next day. We dropped in around 4pm to wish him well, and ended up staying for beers, BBQ and worldly advice from Gary. By 9pm we had met all of Gary's extended family, sang the birthday song and made plans to visit again the next time we drove through. Best of all we now know to never waste a hard-on and never trust a fart.
Moral of the story: the old folks in this country are freaking great. They are friendly, hospitable to strangers and funny as hell. And they hate peace freaks, so our recommendation is to keep that detail to yourself.
