In 1986 the book “All I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten” came out. The simple lessons were a huge commercial success. In my own life, I could propose, “Everything I Need to Know about Affairs, I learned at Gilley’s Honky-Tonk”.
The steady stream of people going through there, the life stories people experienced and the wild rumors the honky-tonk, and what happened there is enough to fill volumes. Whether you praise it or curse it, Gilley’s Honky-Tonk changed lives.
One way it changed lives was through its use of bumper stickers. A “Gilley’s” bumper sticker was placed on every car at the honky-tonk. Special crews roamed the parking lot, attaching the red and white stickers on an industrial scale. Like clockwork, you could count on leaving with a Gilley’s Honky-Tonk sticker on your rear bumper when you left.
The bumper stickers were a sign that you had been to the wild and wonderful world of Gilley’s Honky-Tonk. You could wear it as a badge of honor, or be embarrassed by its very presence. Either way, the sticker was there and it showed others in the community what kind of life you were living.
There was a special signal that only insiders knew that kept your car from being stickered, yet few people knew about it. It was a common joke in the community that many church goers were busy scraping off the stickers in their driveways on Sunday morning before church.
One of the other things it was known for was being a ‘pick-up’ spot. The rich and poor mingled together nightly under it’s roof. Each of them were looking for some ‘action on the side.’ In those days, it was hard explaining where you were the night before when your spouse can easily see the sticker on your car.
Moses said “Your sins will find you out”. In Pasadena, your looking for a hook-up at Gilley’s definitely found you out by the fresh sticker on your rear bumper. It was a tell-tale sign of where you were. It was also amazing how many spouses told stories about how they didn’t know how the sticker got there.
These days, cheaters may think that technology allows them to hide any evidence of infidelity. By using the latest apps, they hope all traces of their indiscretions are erased. Although the days of Gilley’s stickers are gone, the scars of an affair can’t stay hidden.
No matter how hard someone tries to erase the evidence, once it’s out in the open – it’s out there, plain and simple. Just like the lessons taught in kindergarten, no one can hide forever. The truth will always reveal itself. By understanding this, hopefully, people can make better choices for themselves and their families before taking any risks.
Modern versions of the Gilley’s sticker consist of changes in how you talk to your spouse, along with your sexual preferences, self-care, routines, secretiveness, and eye contact. You may hide things on your cell phone, yet your body and your emotions are not so easily hidden.
If you’ve cheated and want to know what to do next, the new video, “Cheater Recovery: Help for the Cheater Starting the Road to Recovery” will clear the obstacles out of your way. It’s always better confessing the cheating than being found out by a tell-tale sign.
Keeping It Real,
Jeff
