Weekend in Texas

My weekend in Dallas, Texas can be summed up in one phrase: FREAKIN' AMAZING! My experience was very positive, the people I came in contact with were great, and the weather was beautiful (even if was a million degrees outside). For those of you who were not aware, I spent August 7 - August 10 in Dallas. The occasion: Beta Theta Pi's 169th Convention. Five guys from my chapter, and myself, few out for a four day fraternity onslaught: 24/7 Beta Theta Pi oriented activity. I spent my time participating in a leadership conference, re-visiting fraternity ritual, and connecting with brothers from all over the United States and Canada. I couldn't have asked for more.

* My greek little brother, Klappy, took me to Lansing airport at 4:30am. We loaded up on McDonalds and Monster energy drink and hit the road. I arrived at the airport around 6am: my flight took off at 7. My airport experience was pretty good, BUT OF COURSE I got stopped at the security gate. If anyone has visited Lansing's airport, they'll tell you one thing: it's structured a little oddly. I literally didn't know where I was supposed to drop my bags off. Naturally, I thought it was a good idea to ask. I pulled one of the security guards aside and said, "Hey, do I need to go through here? Is this the security check point?" This dude had the nerve to cop an attitude. He replied, "If you're trying to fly out of here today..." I really wanted to say something to him, especially since I was already irritated that I had to get up at the crack of dawn, but I didn't. I entered the security section and, of course, was chosen for the "random" security checks. Personally, I don't think it was random. Moreover, I wouldn't be surprised if it was racially motivated. At that time I was the only person of color in the whole damn airport. Maybe they thought I had a gun. Of course I could be totally wrong, but in that case the security guard just wanted to touch my ass. LOL.

To my surprise, and great appreciation, my step-father booked me first class tickets to Dallas. It was cool. The airline clearly distinguished between those in Coach and those in First Class. We were served first, we had a hot meal, cold beverages, and a flight attendant that focused on our section. The seats were wider and we didn't have to deal with any unruly fliers... except this one guy. There was this guy, of African Decent, who tried to run this other guy's first class seat. It was actually kind of funny. The flight attended was trying to explain to the man that someone had purchased that seat, but he wasn't hearin' her. It got to the point where another attended had to come over and break it down. Me bein' silly: I had that one scene from Coming to America playin in my head. You know.... yeah, that one.


* When I was in Texas I had the opportunity to visit Six Flags Over Dallas. While I totally prefer Six Flags Great America, I had a nice time. It was cool to look around the park and see the 1,000 Betas that had flown in to partake in the convention. Back in 2005 my friend Liz moved out to the Dallas area. I gave her a call and we connected at the park. We had an amazing time. We road some coasters, played some DDR.... it was all good. After the fact we went back to De Soto (where she resides) and hung out at Sonic's. As you can see Here and Here we acted a foo'.


Photos from Texas Please excuse my looking like a slave. I wasn't able to get a haircut before my departure, lol.