Po' Boy Lemonade

I was reminded of this when I ordered water with lemon at lunch today...

My first job out of college was traveling full time with a musical group called the Spurrlows. It wasn't very glamorous, but I was living as a full time musician and traveling all over the country. Every week they paid me $150 in cash. (Actually it was $128 after they took taxes out.) We were provided housing (usually a crummy motel room that I shared with 3 other guys), but were responsible for our own food. As you can imagine, $128 can go pretty quick if you eat out every meal. At the time I was also dating my future wife, Anne, and needed to save money for an engagement ring. So, I decided to take $75 every week and save it, and then live on the rest. I had to come up with some creative ways to save money. In my bunk on the bus, I had a small shelf. I would keep some small groceries there and eat one meal a day on the bus. That usually consisted of crackers with tuna, or crackers with goober grape peanut butter/jelly, or soup heated up in a electric mug thing. Then one meal a day I would eat out. But I realized that if I paid for dinner and a drink then my money didn't go as far. So, I got into the habit of ordering water with lemon. When it was served, I would drop a bag of equal in it, stir it up and call it Po' boy lemonade! The funny thing is, I still make Po' boy lemonade! Sometimes I actually prefer it to soda. Through the years, Anne and I have come to an, ahem, agreement. She is ALWAYS able to order soda at dinner. If I want to remember my Po' boy roots, I have to do that on my own. :)