JUDGING BOOKS BY THEIR COVERS
Originally Published in Western Outdoor News the Week of June 20, 2025
We come across a lot of folks down here while doing business with our fishing fleet and restaurant here in La Paz. With some 30 years, we’ve had up to 1000 clients in a single season. That doesn’t include our restaurant.
Over that time, we sure have met a lot of wonderful, interesting, superlative folks. Many have become good friends over the years and even generations into several generations of some families.
But, like any business that comes in contact with the public, you cannot help but develop generalizations and stereotypes about folks. It doesn’t matter if you’re a shopkeeper, taxi driver or Fortune 500 CEO.
You start to form a mental visualization based on the way people talk on the phone. The way they write their e-mails. Their formal signature on their correspondence. How they dress or look or speak when they finally show up down here.
Making assumptions, as you may well know, can be fun. It can be entertaining. It can also be awkward or even perilous in the right context.
For instance, there’s a popular tiki bar on the beach at one of the hotels we work with. Some guys were drinking at the bar just having normal conversation with each other. I could tell 2 were English. Two were Americans.
Another patron started acting up. Obviously drunk and acting king of the hill and bullet proof. He was bothering everyone.
One of the guys at the bar politely asked him if he would tone it down.
Instead the drunk guy went off. Started pushing the the guy who had asked him to be quiet. In fact, started cussing out all 4 of them.
He took a swing and that was the last thing he probably remembered.
Never saw the nice guy move so fast. One move. Put the drunk guy down. Flat on his face out. The other patrons gasped.
The other guy sat down with his buddies and just kept drinking their beers and laughing. No big thing.
Found out later, the two Americans were Army rangers. The two Brits were SAS special forces including the one guy that laid out the drunk.
Another example…I had a big group of Chinese guests. Some were from California. A number were friends from Hong Kong/ Taiwan.
One of them was incredibly good looking. Tall. Perfect features. Very fit. I was told he was a famous movie star and singer back in his country. He had THOSE kind of good looks. A charmer also.
His brother…not so good looking. Short, squat, curly hair. Weird Asian mustache. But funny as heck. Great personality.
We would go walking down the street with the group and people would stop us and wanted to take photos with the shorter brother. Found out later he was a famous porn star in China!
Never would have guessed. He must have had a lot more going for him than a great personality!
I met another guy who used to be a Chip ‘N’ Dales dancer. (40 years before I met him!). He saved up his money and started a chain of express car lube places and cashed out a millionaire.
On another occasion there was a really unassuming guy at our bar. Just a nice guy.
We started talking music. I told him that I play guitar in our house band in our restaurant. He said he played a little too.
I said, wow…if you want to come jam with us, he was welcome. I asked if he had played in bars or backyards before like me. He said, “No, I drum for this group called “The Doobie Brothers.”
Uh yea…duh! He later invited us to LA to watch them record! And I did take him fishing!
Speaking of music, we had a big crowd in our bar one night with the band playing on the top floor and people dancing. One of our waiters said there was a guy on the 2nd floor who had a trumpet.
I walked over to him and told him if he wanted to jump in with the band, he was welcome.
“Are you sure it’s OK,?” he asked. No problem, man. Go for it.
Well, over the next hour he had our whole place jumping. He was great! He had the upstairs and downstairs all hopping and dancing.
During a break he came back to his seat.
I gushed and told him how great he was and offered to pay for his dinner and drinks. I told him that with his awesome talent, he could walk into any bar in La Paz and always get free food and drinks.
He laughed and said, “Thank you. You really think I’m good?”
HECK YA MISTER!
He played one more set with the band then he just disappeared. Walked out. Never saw him leave. He just kinda snuck out from the crowd!
I was really disappointed, but one of our waiters said he left his card.
I took his card which only had his name and a phone number. I went on social media hoping to maybe find this guy and thank him.
Well…yea I found him. Duh…
He was a famous stage and sessions musician and had played with people like the Rolling Stones, Muscle Shoals, Billy Preston and a bunch of others and had 3 grammy awards!
I’m the one who got played for sure. Yes, he was “good enough!”
Just this week, we had a first-timer from Texas come fishing with us.
The day before he arrived, he sent me an e-mail. It was all in capital letters! Almost like shouting. It was about his food .
He said for his breakfast and lunches on the boats, absolutely “NO MEAT THAT HAD FEATHERS ON IT. NO TURKEY. NO CHICKEN. PLUS NO MAYO OR MUSTARD. COMPLETELY DRY FOOD!”
Well, that caused us to roll our eyes a bit.
We get specialty food requests often. No gluten. No nuts. Only eggs. No onions. Eggs, but no chicken. Kosher. Etc. etc.
This guy was MORE THAN adamant.
I had never met him until he showed up. Was he allergic? Was he on a fad diet? Was he just picky?
Well, he turned out to be a good old southern boy. Genuine nice guy. My initial impression was that he was just a picky fussy eater.
So, I asked him about it. He quietly told me…
“I grew up in rural Alabama. We had no electricity. We had no running water. We had to hand pump for our water. I never had a pair of shoes until I was in 1st grade.”
We had chickens. Lots of them. Our outhouse was in the chicken yard.
Every time…day or night…when I had to go to the outhouse, I had to walk barefooted through all that years of chicken crap. In my toes and stuck to my feet.”
“I swore I would never eat anything again for as long as I lived with feathers.”
That put a whole different spin on things. Mad respect for this gentleman.
You just can never tell about folks. There’s a story behind every first impression.
That’s my story!
Jonathan
______________
Jonathan Roldan has been writing the Baja Column in Western Outdoor News since 2004. Along with his wife and fishing buddy, Jilly, they own and run the Tailhunter Sportfishing Fishing Fleet in La Paz, Baja, Mexico www.tailhunter.com . They also run their Tailhunter Restaurant Bar on the famous La Paz malecon waterfront. If you’d like to contact him directly, his e-mail is: jonathan@tailhunter.com
Or drop by the restaurant to say hi. It’s right on the La Paz waterfront!
_____________
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing
Website: www.tailhunter.com
Mexico Office: Tailhunter International, 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, MexicoU.S. Mailing Address: Tailhunter International, 8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178, La Mesa CA 91942
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863
.
Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report: http://fishreport.jonathanroldan.com/
Tailhunter YouTube Video Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBLvdHL_p4-OAu3HfiVzW0g
“When your life finally flashes before your eyes, you will have only moments to regret all the things in life you never had the courage to try.”
That's My Story 
Leave a comment