Coach Dykes was the guest speaker at my high school's athletic banquet in 1991 (Sundown, TX). He told a story about his family's first encounter with an elevator that still cracks me up to this day.
As most of you already know, Coach Dykes grew up on a farm near Morton, TX. Being self-sufficient folks, as most were in those days, trips to town by the Dykes family were few and far between. To tell it best, I'll paraphrase the rest of the story from Coach Dykes point of view...
"We hadn't been to town (Lubbock) for several years, but one year when I was about ten or eleven years old my daddy decided it was time to make a trip. After chores one Saturday, we all got dressed up in our church clothes and drove into Lubbock. Our first stop was the old Sears Department store, which at the time was downtown.
We walked in the store and stood in the lobby for a minute, just staring at all the new things for sale. As we were looking around the place, I noticed a set of doors at the far end of the lobby that opened funny. The doors slid into the wall...instead of outward, like a normal door. This funny set of doors also had some numbers above it, which lit up...I had never seen anything like it in my life.
Well, after we stood in the lobby for a bit, daddy told momma to go after what she needed and that he and I would be over in the hardware section. After momma left, I pointed to the funny set of doors and asked daddy what they were. Just as daddy turned to look at what I was pointing to, a big, ugly woman walked up to the doors and pushed a button on the wall. Daddy and I watched as the doors opened...then the big ugly woman stepped inside and the doors closed. As soon as the doors closed, the numbers above the door started counting up, 1...2...3. After a minute or so, the numbers lit up again, but this time they were counting down. When the number "1" lit up, the doors opened up and out walked a young, beautiful lady. I looked at daddy and asked again, "Daddy, what is that thing?".
Daddy said, "I don't know, boy, but go get your momma, quick!"
As most of you already know, Coach Dykes grew up on a farm near Morton, TX. Being self-sufficient folks, as most were in those days, trips to town by the Dykes family were few and far between. To tell it best, I'll paraphrase the rest of the story from Coach Dykes point of view...
"We hadn't been to town (Lubbock) for several years, but one year when I was about ten or eleven years old my daddy decided it was time to make a trip. After chores one Saturday, we all got dressed up in our church clothes and drove into Lubbock. Our first stop was the old Sears Department store, which at the time was downtown.
We walked in the store and stood in the lobby for a minute, just staring at all the new things for sale. As we were looking around the place, I noticed a set of doors at the far end of the lobby that opened funny. The doors slid into the wall...instead of outward, like a normal door. This funny set of doors also had some numbers above it, which lit up...I had never seen anything like it in my life.
Well, after we stood in the lobby for a bit, daddy told momma to go after what she needed and that he and I would be over in the hardware section. After momma left, I pointed to the funny set of doors and asked daddy what they were. Just as daddy turned to look at what I was pointing to, a big, ugly woman walked up to the doors and pushed a button on the wall. Daddy and I watched as the doors opened...then the big ugly woman stepped inside and the doors closed. As soon as the doors closed, the numbers above the door started counting up, 1...2...3. After a minute or so, the numbers lit up again, but this time they were counting down. When the number "1" lit up, the doors opened up and out walked a young, beautiful lady. I looked at daddy and asked again, "Daddy, what is that thing?".
Daddy said, "I don't know, boy, but go get your momma, quick!"
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