I think I did not – do not – take as many pictures of people as I should have, or wanted to. There is usually something off-putting when someone just up and asks to take your photograph. You have probably experienced this yourself; you are likely self-conscious about your hair, your makeup, your teeth, what you’re wearing. You may pose; your eyes will usually be shut for the first photo, occasioning a retake – and you weren’t happy with being snapped in the first place!

So, in Oklahoma, I did not take enough pictures of just “people“. I have way more statues than life humans; Those will come later. But I did get a few, all of them interesting, all of them, I think, just spur-of-the-moment. So here are those few. OK , this one is really cheating. It’s the crowd at the Friday night baseball game between the Oklahoma City Dodgers and the Iowa Cubs. I took pictures of the stands down both baselines simply because I thought this was a pretty good crowd at a AAA ball game. The crowd down the third-base line was even more full. I never did see who populated the upper stands, but I know a good number of people were up there, certainly behind home plate. You can just pick out whoever you want to in this photo, if you see someone interesting.I did not do a good job of writing down names, but this was my waitress at Roberts restaurant in El Reno, Oklahoma… Home of the fried onion burger – a local 1920s delicacy that I have mentioned elsewhere earlier. It seems to me she was Pam. She kept my iced tea filled, and explained a lot of the goings-on around this very small western Oklahoma community. Roberts is a very tiny place; you’re pretty much looking at it all. now, to me, these are just two classic western faces. The man on the right is Fred. I am in Langston’s, a huge and remarkable Western wear store in Stockyard City… one of these very distinct neighbourhoods that make up Oklahoma City. The city has done a good job of identifying it’s neighbourhoods and ensuring that activities mirror the name of the neighbourhood – or vice-versa. Langston’s has been in business for well over 100 years; it started out as just one of those stores making goods available to cowboys on the Oklahoma range. Settlers too, I suppose. Stockyards City has been dedicated to preserving the pure western feel of Old Oklahoma. you feel at the moment you enter the neighborhood.

Anyway, Fred and Pat, on the left, are sales clerks in Langston’s. I had no idea! Fred in particular has what I describe as a classic western relaxed way about him – I thought he was the owner! Nope, just a sales clerk, but looking at the two of them together, I knew I had to have a picture. And there it is,, two up. Me, I think they look just great; they are an image of The West.

Langston’s is across the street from the 100 year old Cattleman’s Café, probably the most iconic restaurant in Oklahoma City and one of the three “must”s of a visit to the community. This gentleman was coming out as I was going in, and I simply said to him “I like your shirt!” He thanked me in a voice that was accented, and I asked where he was from; “Gabon” was his answer. I asked if I could take his picture; he said,”Do you want me to wear the hat too?” I had not noticed the hat in his hand! I said, “you bet!”… And this is the result. I have no idea who he is. I was not gathering facts; the photo was an impulse. I just liked the look of him. Two waitresses. I think you could take photographs of wait staff in restaurants all day long; they are some of the hardest working, longest suffering people I know. The first picture is Gaby, my waitress at the Cattlemen’s Cafe in Oklahoma City. The nice thing about this restaurant, which is really an exceptional steakhouse, is that it has no airs or pretensions of any kind. You can dress for dinner – or not. You can be formal, or not. And one of the exceptional things about Gaby was her quietly welcoming manner, making sure practically before I was seated, wearing a logo T-shirt, was that I was among friends, that I was good. The people sitting next to me were certainly more formally dressed than I was; made no difference to my waitress. She was professional, friendly, courteous… Probably one of the best I have encountered.

Again, I do not know the name of my waitress at Oklahoma Joe’s barbeque in Tulsa. Oklahoma Joe’s has become one of the most famous barbeque joints in barbeque-mad Kansas City. I believe the original owner has sold everything else, but has kept this place. The picture is really the result of the large group I was with saying, “Get in the picture!” The reason for that is that in a group of 10 or 12, I was the last person to order and they ran out of ribs. Downside – I had to sit and drink my iced tea while everyone around me ate. Upside – I got the next ribs out of the smoker, fresh and hot and tender and delicious! Advantage, me! One more waitress… This one in a restaurant in the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma. “Highway 66” is one of the many restaurants in this large property. My friend Joe and I went because we had heard the chicken-fried steak was good. What it was, was large; huge; gigantic! Joe and I split one. I think one of the other things that attracted us to it was that they actually called it “chicken fried steak”, and not “country fried steak”, which so many places do. There is a difference. Anyway, “Highway 66” is a well done 50s and 60s themed restaurant, and the waitress costume/uniform was just too good.

I wish I had taken more people pictures. I think it is something we do not do enough of, or let friends and family take pictures of us, formally and informally. These were all strangers I encountered in someway or another on my trip to Oklahoma. I met a lot more, I wish I’d taken their snapshot.