Richard Hits 21

Richard Lepper turned 21 yesterday and drank his first legal beer at Buzzy’s Country Store. His great Aunt Frances (right) was on hand to help him celebrate. (Frances is worried about being labelled a “Buzzy regular” because she’s now been in the Store twice within the last month.  “People on the porch were even teasing me about it” she noted to me when she made it to the counter.  I told her “That means you really are a member of the Buzzy Club, because here they don’t tease you if they don’t like you.)

Richard rolled into Buzzy’s after having gone to DMV to obtain his new drivers license.  In Maryland anyone under 21 is issued a vertical license.  Once they turn 21, they receive a horizontal license.  Many bars and liquor stores will not accept the vertical card even if the holder of the id is 21.  Thus in another rite of passage, on the day of their 21st birthday folks immediately go the DMV so they can swap out the vertical for the correct id.     This regulation actually makes it a lot easier for those of us who have to card people to ensure that they are 21: if you see that the drivers license is horizontal you know immediately that they are at least 21.  I always tell them “If you’re sideways, you’re ok.”

As for birthday songs, I’ve played that Beatles one too much, so how about this nice Rascal Flatts tune with some nice photos in it? 

Several of the members of Rascal Flatts started out playing Christian music. So it was kind of ironic when one of their early videos was banned on the Great American Country T-V channel for showing too much nudity.  Looks ok to me.