Dirtaay! I wanted to take the opportunity to give a better explanation of what Dirtaay is trying to accomplish. A mission statement of sorts. Dirtaay is a combination of many things and can be quite arduous to explain. I hadn’t really been able to explain what Dirtaay is about in its essence…until now.
A very good friend of mine I met while serving in the United States Army recently retired. He and his family have relocated to a town that is an hour away from where I live. He invited my family over to celebrate the 4th of July with his family. I didn’t think twice about a decision and accepted the invitation since I hadn’t seen him in a while.
A little background for context; Pac and I met back in ’97. We were both assigned to the same company and worked in the supply room together. My MOS was an Infantry position, but the Army assigns you into roles they see fit. I was chosen to transfer into the supply room. Pac was the chemical NCO. We didn’t hit it off in the beginning. I was upset about the new role, and he had just arrived in the unit. He had this swagger about him that came off as arrogance. We butted heads a lot. One day I decided to not blame Pac for the recent role change because well he had nothing to do with it. Taking control of my emotions was the best thing to happen that day. I quickly realized he was funny and misunderstood. We had a lot of common interests such as sports, music, video games, and humor. A great long-lasting friendship began that day. We’ve experienced some wild and crazy times over the years.
My family and I show up at Pac’s house the day of July 4th. I ask him what’s the play for the night? He says we’re going to his neighbor’s house for a crawfish boil. First off, I don’t eat mudbugs. I tried them before at a Jamaican festival. I inhaled incorrectly when sucking the head for the first time (I’m talking about the crawfish, c’mon now) that the spices stuck in my throat the rest of the night. Horrible experience for sure. Second, we didn’t come prepared to visit a stranger’s home, we came with just beer and soft drinks. We like to bring an offering when visiting a stranger’s home for the first time. He quickly replied, “You’re with me Bro, you’re good.”. That’s all it took for me to adapt to the situation.
While at the boil I met Dan, one of Pac’s neighbors. Really fun guy who is a cigar connoisseur. He asked if I wanted one to which I obliged. We got to talking, chatting, drinking, one thing lead to another and, this is where it gets weird and I can’t believe I’m about to write this, he leans forward and whispers “Why does Pac keep calling you Dirtaay?”. I got all flustered and nervous. My mind started racing, my heart started to flutter because I had to stop and really think of how I was going to explain Dirtaay to a complete stranger.
Then it hit me. Dirtaay is a way to connect with people you share the same interests with. He looked at me and said “Interesting!”. I proceed to tell him that he and I had never met prior to this day. Pac connected us together and now here we are smoking cigars in front of your house. Who knows what other interests and hobbies we share? Only time will tell. He loved the idea.
Dirtaay essentially is a connector. It can be used to connect two strangers visiting the same place at the same time. It can be used to connect friends that haven’t seen each other in a long time. It can be used to connect people rallying together for a specific cause. The name Dirtaay is universal. Dirtaay people don’t discriminate or judge other people. We need this type of thinking now more than ever.
Dan was keen on the whole idea. After conversating and getting to know each other we all decided to take the party back to Pac’s house. Dan suggests we eat some crawfish before heading to Pac’s. I tell Dan about my awful experience with crawfish, and he says to give crawfish another try. I reluctantly follow him back to the boil to give it another shot. I’ll try anything once, twice if I didn’t like it the first time just to make sure I did it right.
Dan went through a step-by-step process on how to crack the crawfish then eat it. I was dumbfounded to see him crack the ribs to expose the meat underneath. I never knew about cracking the ribs to get the meat. It has the same color, texture, and taste as crab. I would’ve never known that if it wasn’t for Dan. That is what DIrtaay is about in its’s entirety. He educated me on how to properly eat crawfish and has inspired me to eat more of it. I will now produce the same results by educating someone else in the future that is reluctant to eat crawfish. I still don’t suck on the heads; it just isn’t my thing. Well for now at least.