Choose Your Friends....

So I met this guy at a ride out of the Harley dealership a few weeks ago. Seemed like a good guy and I thought since he lived in the town (city) where I do, it'd be nice to maybe have someone to ride with on occasion. We played phone tag a few times and also our schedules weren't really sync'd to where we could go ride.
This past Wednesday, I figured I'd send him a text and see if he was going on the dinner ride and maybe if he'd be interested in going to see some dirt track races on Saturday. He called me back and said he was going to be going on a dinner ride somewhere other than where the H.O.G. group (Harley Owners Group) was planning to go and did I want to go with him? I asked where he was headed and he told me stuff that didn't make complete sense to me but wanting someone to ride with, I said sure. We agreed to meet at the dealership, since that was easy, common ground.
We met and rode off after he made a call to say, "Yeah, he's coming. We'll see you there."
We took off on the ride down the freeway at a very moderate clip. He had told me in previous conversation that he liked to ride a bit faster than the speed limit, but tonight we were cruising at only 60 mph.
We arrived at the destination, which turned out to be an "adult entertainment" establishment. No other bikes were in evidence. I had been told that this was going to be a pretty inexpensive night out, but we were immediately informed that the privilege of parking right next to the door, as all motorcycles were going to do, was going to cost $5. No big deal. But still....
There was no cover if we went in before 7 PM, but it was a quarter of and I was informed that this was a "set-up" style bar, which in Texas means you carry in your own liquor or beer and they sell the mixers. So we had to run and get some beer. And meet another, more senior member of this group.
So we shoot over to the very close establishment to meet with the Capt and buy libations. While we are waiting my host informs me that he "sorta lied and told the Capt that you (meaning me!) were interested in joining us" and that I should play along with it....
Capt arrives on a beautiful Harley Road King. He isn't much more than 5' 6" and if he had an inseam within 10 inches of his belt size, then I am the King of Scotland....
He was wearing the usual black leather vest and it was adorned with several patches that were red and gold in color. Uh huh.
One in particular stood out to me. It read "I Support The Fat Mexican" and was in a diamond shape on his left front shoulder. On his lower right side of the vest was "A Friend of The Bandidos" patch.
"Hmmm..wtf have I fallen into?" I was thinking.
Capt told us the brand and size of beer he was purchasing. Guess what? We bought the exact same. And then it was back to the strip club.
As we stood outside in the Texas early evening heat (think 95 degrees) watching our bottled beer sweat, I was given a quick lesson on the protocol for the evening and the history of this informal "group" of riders approved patch... For you see, we were at the location of a meeting of the local chapter of The Bandidos MC, which was to take place that very same evening.
It turns out this small "group" of riders is an "approved" assemblage of bikers that are not viewed as a threat to the sovereignty of The Bandidos and in fact may be a "farm team"! Holy crap, my feet can't touch the bottom of this pool and I hope I can swim to the shore.....
After a while we went in and then some of the "patched" boys started showing up. They felt totally comfortable helping themselves to the beer we had purchased as well as any cigarettes or other things that were on the table. I had been instructed to stand and wait until they selected the chair they wanted to sit down in; if they decided to sit where I had been, I needed to just pick another chair.
After a short time, I asked my new friend if this was going to be like a wedding reception and we would have to wait until the bride and groom left before we could. He assured me it wasn't and so after hanging out for an hour or so, I made my way outside to where the full chapter was conducting a meeting. They were to the left of the door and Capt was off to the right.
He and I exchanged contact info (cel phone numbers) and then I rode off, glad to still have a Harley....
Since then, I have been invited to no less than 4 Bandido events that took place this weekend, with the caveat that "it's not required and no one is ever going to ask you to do something you don't want to." Uh huh. Good thing I had lots of stuff to do this weekend.

I'll let you know if I have already joined or can peacefully coexist....