Our girl in Europe

Daughter Kate went out with her aunt Missy and a friend while in Knoxville on the Fourth of July. They ended up in a bar in downtown Knoxville, drinking beers and shooting pool (my daughter). Apparently some frat boys from Knoxville came up and tried to throw a line at Kate. Her response was sarcasm (surprise). One of the boys informed her that she was only a 7 out of 10. She informed him that that was high talk for a young man who was losing his hair (that hurt her daddy a little, too).

That does remind me of the exchange uttered between John Wayne and Robert Duvall in the climax of the movie "True Grit."

Ned Pepper: What's your intention? Do you think one on four is a dogfall?

Rooster Cogburn: I mean to kill you in one minute, Ned. Or see you hanged in Fort Smith at Judge Parker's convenience. Which'll it be?

Ned Pepper: I call that bold talk for a one-eyed fat man.

Rooster Cogburn: Fill your hands, you son of a bitch.

[I borrowed that dialogue directly from the movie screenplay.]

With that John Wayne charges the outlaws on horseback, with two guns in his hands and the reins in his teeth. Of course, he guns down the outlaws and saves the day in the end. A grand scene.

Later in the evening, two young British scientists brought drinks to Kate and her aunt and friend and tried to talk them up. Kate was told by one of the Brits that she was the most European American he had ever encountered.

Last night, Kate told us a story about one time when she was in Prague and was mistaken for a Frenchwoman by a Czech. I thought these two stories were quite ironic for the daughter of someone (me) who was cursed at twice in England for being an American. Be careful when you wear cowboy boots and polo shirts in Britian.

Kate doesn't take our genetic predispositions against the Brits as seriously as her dad. After all, we are directly descended from Lieutenant Gregory Baynham in General Washington's army and a McElroy who was a member of the army which took down Ferguson and his British troops on Kings Mountain and then later witnessed the surrender of Cornwallis to Washington at Yorktown. Then again, there was someone from whom my grandmother Baynham is descended who fought with Andrew Jackson against the British in New Orleans in the War of 1812 and a Sicard on Cindy's side who also fought the British in the Battle of New Orleans.

So maybe it is a little ironic that Kate keeps getting these Europeans confused about her national derivation.

Of course there was a Baynham in Stuart England (before we were sent off to America under sentence) who was utilized by the Catholics in the Gunpowder Plot. He was apparently dark-skinned and multi-lingual, so that the plotters sent him on a mission to the Pope to gain forgiveness for the plot because his dark skin and linguistic abilities could be utilized by him to disguise himself as a Spaniard or an Italian on his journey to Rome. Maybe Kate takes after him.

Maybe Kate should get a job which allows her to masquerade as a European. Kate Baynham, Agent 008 1/2.