I went to the opening Asheville Tourists game this year and stayed for approximately four innings, two more than I usually make it at a minor league baseball game I spend very little ticket money on.
The game was relatively uneventful, save a power outage, so we left early (but still later than normal).
During this baseball outing, I went to grab some beers for the group and found myself waiting behind a woman wearing a Wallenpaupack Brewing Company tee shirt. Wallenpaupack Brewing Company is only about 25 minutes from where I grew up in Northeastern Pennsylvania and one of my parents and their friends’ favorite spots to enjoy a Saturday afternoon. It’s not well known outside of that region, so I politely tapped her shoulder and said, “Excuse me, ma’am, are you from near Lake Wallenpaupack?”
“Where the hell is that?” she said extremely brusquely.
“Your shirt?” I said.
“Son,” she said, “I’m not even sure what shirt I have on right now.” She looked down at it. “I don’t know where I got this. Is it in upstate New York?”
“No,” I said, “Pennsylvania.”
“Well,” she said, “if I was ever in Pennsylvania, I don’t remember it,” and then turned around, effectively ending the conversation.
You’d think everyone in Asheville wearing a brewery tee shirt would be all too happy to talk breweries with anyone who asked…but you’d be wrong.
Last year, I was at The Whale in West Asheville, and a gentleman in line was wearing a Greenport Harbor Brewing Company tee shirt. Greenport Harbor Brewing is a brewery out on Long Island’s North Fork that I know because my friend Jackie’s dad works for them. I’ve been to the brewery, had an insider’s tour, and have plenty of Greenport Harbor Brewery merch, courtesy of Jackie, including the same tee shirt this guy was wearing.
Similarly to my new Asheville Tourists friend, when I asked the guy if he was from Greenport Harbor and was about to share that I’d just been wearing my Greenport Habor Brewing shirt the day prior, he snapped, “No, I’ve just been there once and liked the shirt,” and like the baseball lady, ended the conversation by turning back around.
I’ve had more luck with Lancaster, PA—where I lived for five years—breweries. I ran into a guy wearing a Lancaster Brew Co tee last spring you can read about here (spoiler alert: he got the tee shirt in a thrift store but was at least pleasant enough to chat with), and somewhat recently ran into a man at Archetype West wearing a Fetish Brewing tee shirt. When I—tentatively—asked if he was from Lancaster, he cheerfully (thankfully) said no, but his daughter was going to school in Harrisburg and got him the shirt.
AshevilleExplorer 