I love haters
NEW ORLEANS—This is a Big Easy encounter that does not involve alcohol.
Well, I did have one Swizzle with my tofu banh mi at Latitude 29, a new tiki bar and restaurant tucked away near the Mississippi River. (The superb venue is named as a nod to New Orleans latitude on the map and has the same designer as Taboo Cove in Las Vegas and Le Tiki Lounge in Paris.)
After dinner I walked back to the Olivier House, my French Quarter stomping ground. A woman stood in the middle of Bourbon Street trying to hustle customers into an establishment. She wore a baseball cap that said “I Love Haters!” She had it tilted on her head like Cubs relievers Fernando Rodney and Pedro Strop.
This made me smile.
I had to get this cap.
I found it on Amazon, but I had to have it immediately, I was afraid the idea of owning an “I Love Haters!” cap wouldn’t be so funny when I got back to Chicago.
After our Saturday afternoon “People’s Place” book signing at the wonderful Southern Food & Beverage Museum, book photographer Paul Natkin dropped me off on Canal Street. There’s dozens of mid-range clothing stores and cheeseball souvenir shops where I was told I would locate the cap.
I found a silver and black “I Love Haters!” cap in the second store I entered. The Oakland Raiders color scheme made sense for such a fierce statement.
By the time I made it to the counter I was so fixated on the cap–which I still found funny—and the affordable price ($7.99)–I didn’t realize I was standing in line with a bunch of African American women buying blouses and lingerie.
The small woman behind me asked, “Do you have haters?”
Before I could answer, she continued, “We all have haters.”
I had to agree with that. Someone probably hates this post. I once had an editor who hated me for writing about “Bad Bad Leroy Brown.”
While holding her red undergarments, the customer lectured me about how the “I Love Haters!” cap was a woman’s cap. I hated to disagree with her, seeing how the store was filled with women.
And men can’t love haters!?
Then she asked, “Are you a transsexual?”
This was when I thought I better not buy the cap after all. I may “Love Haters!” but I wasn’t sure of my stand on “Sassy Ladies!”
The next day I couldn’t get the “I Love Haters!” cap out of my head. On late night television I saw the flamboyant Joe Zee on a “Fab Life” television show talking about “trend adventurous.” I heard the clarion to man up. And why did I succumb to such playful pressure? Perhaps the woman with the red underwear just hated the idea of me buying the haters cap.
I look like such a nice guy.
I marched back to the store the next morning and bought the cap. The same clerk was behind the counter. She smiled at me.
Loving all haters is a good way to start the day.
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