Will Lubbock Ever Stop Trying To Make The Chilton A Thing?
Sorry Lubbock, outside of the city limits, it's just not a thing.
In the movie "Mean Girls" one character keeps using the term "fetch" and finally another character says, "Gretchen, stop trying to make 'fetch' happen, it's not going to happen". It was obvious that Gretchen's substitute for "cool" was doomed.
This is the same with Lubbock's (official?) drink, "the Chilton". This mixture of soda water, lemon juice, vodka, and a lot of salt captures high praise around here but seems to be relatively unknown outside of the immediate area. I've seen a number of people try to drag bartenders from other areas because "they didn't even know how to make a Chilton". Well, Becky, that's because the drink really isn't popular outside of West Texas. It's like expecting someone in Oklahoma to know how to surf, it's just not in their wheelhouse. Dragging a bartender for not knowing how to make something that's not popular doesn't make them look dumb, it makes you look kind of like a jerk. It's like you went to New York and expected a deli to serve your Grandma's Apple Brown Betty, it may be everything to you, but it means nothing to them.
You see "good" is a relative term. There are lots of people who like bad things and call them good. I would say the mark of "good" comes when something gains a majority thumbs up. Is eating live octopuses good? There are some people who swear by it, but the majority say it's not good. In other words, the Chilton is a nice hometown tradition, but then again our taste buds are ruined from eating airborne dirt nine months out of the year. The world at large has not proclaimed this drink as "good". The Chilton has had plenty of time to catch on and most people have said, "No thanks".
All of this "Chilton-hate" which is really just "Chilton-realistic world view" was sparked by a nice mural downtown that says "When Life Gives You Lemons, Make A Chilton". I prefer, "If a bartender gives you a Chilton, be salty". I am glad Lubbock has something to be proud of. I think we should also be proud of all the cool red bricks downtown, but that doesn't mean every town should put in red bricks. Let's just keep the Chilton as a wonderful hometown thing and quit expecting others to understand.
Oh, by the way, Chilton's taste like an alcoholic peed in the ocean and you swam too close to it.