Training the Best

Well after a many month hiatus from hashing, I finally tracked down the Corpus hash. They only hash every other Saturday (the other Saturday is for a bike hash) and the website wasn't updated for over a month. So I was really looking forward to some hashing in Texas. I convinced a buddy of mine to come and check it out; he had heard about hashing from friends before but had never gone.

The website said only that the hash would meet at 5pm at the main entrance to the Shrimporee in Aransas Pass (north of Corpus Christi across the bay). Sam and I showed up at about 4:55 and started looking around. I wasn't sure if CCH3 (Corpus Christi Hash House Harriers) was like Sir Walter's and people mosied in about twenty to thirty minutes late or if it was like Over the Hump in DC and they packed off promptly at the stated time. We didn't see anyone when we drove in and we decided to take a walk around the parade grounds to look for hashers.

Finally after walking all the way around the parade ground, I spotted a woman wearing hash tags around her neck and a hash foot on her t-shirt. I asked is she was here for the hash (yeah, that'll get you some funny looks) and she answered in the affirmative. She told me that CCH3 is notorious for showing up late and that they were pretty lame sometimes. I wasn't encouraged, but she was reasonably cute so I hung around.

It took a freaking hour for everybody to show up and the damn hares were the last to show. Sam was getting frustrated waiting for everybody and I was starting to agree with him. Worst of all, it seems that this was to be a social hash; most of the crowd showed up wearing street clothes. When a couple showed up with a stroller (not a jogger, a stroller like you take for a walk down the street) containing a newborn, I knew it wasn't going to be a good hash.

Finally the hares split and after about fifteen minutes we gave chase. But because it was a live trail, we started off walking (live trails start with five minutes of walking). We never needed to break out in a run. We walked for about two hundred yards down the road, around the block, and we were at the on-in. Holy shit I was pissed. I drove all the way out there and told Sam about how great hashing was and this is all I get?

The circle was ok, they gave me and my virgin (Sam) a down down for not knowing who "G" was, (the founder of hashing Sir Albert S. Gispert) which I thought was pretty damn lame. A hashing quiz? Who's ever heard of something so ridiculous? The hash songs were pretty good. I know quite a few, but they had some new ones. My favorite was "It's incest time in Texas" to the tune of The Yellow Rose of Texas. I suffered a few down-downs and had a good time, so it was worth my $5. I seem to have caught the eye of a certain harriette, which was a good thing too.

// posted by Josh @ 6/04/2006 04:22:00 PM