Description:
Julie Pink talks about her experiences in the LGBT community in Oklahoma.
Transcript:
Interviewer: Bonita James
Interviewee: Julie Pink
Interview Date: 3/30/2011
Interview Location: Ronald J. Norick Downtown Library
Bonita James: This is Benita James recording at the Ronald J. Norick Library in Downtown Oklahoma City. Today is March 30, 2011, and I am sitting here with Julie Pink, which is a pseudonym [laughs] that we will be using today. Thank you so much, Julie, for being here.
Julie Pink: You’re welcome.
BJ: First of all, I just kind of wanted to get some background, like where you were born and where you raised, where you went to school.
JP: I was born and raised in Ponca City, Oklahoma.
BJ: Ponca City, Oklahoma. Did you graduate from Ponca City High School?
JP: Yes.
BJ: What year?
JP: ’78.
BJ: ’78. What did you do in Ponca City? What was fun to do? Did you hang out?
JP: In school, the only thing to do in school was drag grand.
BJ: What?
JP: Drag grand.
BJ: Oh! Grand Street. Okay. Did you have a car? Were you the driver or the rider?
JP: Both.
BJ: What kind of car did you have?
JP: [pause] Well that’s embarrassing. A ’76 – [pause]. I don’t remember the year, but a Catalina.
BJ: A Catalina?
JP: Yeah. A big old four-door boat.
BJ: Sweet. I like them boats.
JP: We would just drive and then we’d park. You didn’t worry about gas back then.
BJ: That’s cool. And that would be in high school?
JP: Right.
BJ: Did you play any sports?
JP: I played softball and powder puff football in high school.
BJ: Cool. Powder puff football. What is powder puff football?
JP: [incredulously] Girls’ flag football.
BJ: They have girls’ flag football?
JP: I can’t believe you didn’t know that! [laughing]
BJ: [laughing] Do I look like I know what powder puff football is? [both laughing] Very cool. Did you have like a nice clique of friends? Did you have best friends?
JP: Yes. There was three of us and all the teachers called us the Three Musketeers. They were one year younger than me.
BJ: Your friends were?
JP: Mm-hmm [meaning yes].
BJ: Okay, cool. Did you continue to grow up with them?
JP: We met in high school, so three years of school is what we went together. Or I guess two until I graduated, and then we remained friends. Probably during some of my college years, until they disowned me.
BJ: Oh, okay. What about family? Mom and Dad and everything growing up?
JP: Dad. Mom died when I was three.
BJ: Sisters? Brothers?
JP: There’s five of us. There’s three older sisters, and then me, and then a younger brother. That’s when my mom died, six days after he was born.
BJ: Wow. How did you see that the community was in Ponca City? Was it pretty tight knit? Small town? Big city?
JP: Are you just talking about Ponca City in general or the lesbian community?
BJ: Just the general –
JP: It always seemed like real, small town values. There’s like 30,000 or so people. It’s not really that tiny. It’s not like Edmond right next to Oklahoma City. It seems a lot smaller. Then, of course, Conoco was there at the time I was growing up, so that brought in –
BJ: So that was like the major workforce.
JP: Definitely.
BJ: Was your family working there?
JP: Daddy helped build it. He did a lot of construction stuff.
BJ: Cool. Since you mentioned the lesbian community, can you tell me a little bit about it when you lived there in high school?
JP: Non-existent.
BJ: Non-existent. Did you know any other gays or lesbians growing up?
JP: No. There was two male hairdressers in town that everybody talked about. [laughs] The whole time I was growing up, I heard about them, and then there was a guy at a shoe store that everybody talked about, but as far as knowing what to do about it, where to go, nothing.
BJ: When you were in high school and still living in Ponca City, did you know then? What was your –
JP: I strongly suspected, yes. I had a big crush on one of the girls. [laughs]
BJ: How was that in your friendship, that dynamic, even when you guys were just friends?
JP: That was never mentioned.
BJ: It was never brought up?
JP: Never, ever, ever brought up until later in college. One of them had kind of went on the wayside anyway. She’d gotten married and we’d just kind of lost touch. The other one, I told after I was living here in the city and never talked to her again.
BJ: So you came to Oklahoma City to go to college. Is that correct?
JP: Yes. Edmond.
BJ: You went to UCO?
JP: Mm-hmm [meaning yes]. Well, no.
BJ: What was it called back then?
JP: CSU. (Note: The University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond was previously known as Central State University.)
BJ: CSU?
JP: Central State University.
BJ: What year did you graduate from there?
JP: Let’s see. I went to NOC first, which is in Tonkawa, so I went there for two years and got my basics. That would have been ’80, so it would have been ’82, because I did my last two years in Edmond.
BJ: When you were in Edmond, you still had contact with your really good friend from high school until you told her?
JP: Yes. Right.
BJ: Would you mind telling us a little bit about that?
JP: About the experience of telling her?
BJ: Yeah.
JP: She had come to town. We were going to a concert. I can’t remember what concert, and of course she’s staying at the apartment. I had been through a breakup and it was my first relationship, and I wanted one of my best friends that I’d had for years to cry on their shoulder, basically. I just called her. Er, I told her before we went to the concert. [laughing] Maybe not good timing but then you don’t have to face it so much. We’re sitting out in the car and we’re waiting. We have like an hour or so, and she goes, “Oh, is that all?” You know, no big deal. Well, then, she kind of quits calling. I did call her and she goes, “Well, what do you want me to day?” Well, nothing, I guess. Never again.
BJ: So she didn’t outright have any animosity towards you. It was just kind of like –
JP: Cut all ties. From being really tight knit. I called her parents Mom and Dad. She called my dad Dad. We partied constantly together. We played together and everything. Never called again.
BJ: So you had a bad breakup with a woman?
JP: Right.
BJ: Was that your first girlfriend?
JP: Yes.
BJ: You met her after you got to college, I’m assuming?
JP: Yes.
BJ: Whenever you first came out and you’re in college and experiencing all of these things, did you really embrace it when you had your first girlfriend?
JP: Yeah, because I met a bunch of people and there wasn’t that many bars, it didn’t seem like. We’d go and we’d go to the park every weekend. We played at the park. There was always volleyball or football or something going on, just playing. There was a bunch of us that were together constantly.
BJ: A bunch of other women?
JP: Mm-hmm [meaning yes].
BJ: I have heard about the park days where girls used to just get together and play and it’s nonexistent now as far as I know.
JP: [surprised] Really?
BJ: I’ve heard of people that I’ve met tell me about it. What was the park and how did you all know to meet and was it a big group of you?
JP: Every Saturday, Sunday, Will Rogers Park. You had where the swings and the slides and stuff were and the picnic area. That was regular, straight families with kids and everything. We were over on the other side and it was just a big field. We had our blankets out. There wasn’t ever a time to just say, “What time are we going?” It was just we were there. It was both men and women, and usually by the time afternoon rolled around we’d go somewhere and have a beer or something. The park, that was really fun. We did that for years, but it just – as you got older, I just thought the younger crowd was still going there but I guess not.
BJ: When I first moved to Oklahoma City, I knew Will Rogers was the “gay park,” quote unquote. I didn’t know why. I think maybe you told me that first story of everybody meeting up on Saturdays and Sundays.
JP: Well, it kind of started getting a bad rep from the guys because they were all tricking there, and then there started being arrests and stuff like that, so that wasn’t cool. That kind of ruined a fun afternoon.
BJ: Yeah. How long were you with your first girlfriend in college?
JP: Four or five years.
BJ: Wow, so through the whole college.
JP: Let’s see. I can’t remember if I was still in college. I met her at my job where I was working my way through college. I met her there, but I can’t remember if I was still actually in school. I think it was four of five years. It was bad.
BJ: From beginning to end?
JP: She cheated on me right after we bought a house together.
BJ: Oh.
JP: Yeah.
BJ: What would you say during that time and with her and afterwards, how was the climate in Oklahoma City towards gay people? You guys bought a house together. Did you guys catch any backlash or was it easy breezy?
JP: Well, the people I worked for were cool. We never really discussed it, but I’m sure they knew. I didn’t have any problem with them. I was always a little paranoid going to some of the bars because you hear bad stories.
BJ: Back then especially.
JP: Yeah. I mean, there was always something that – my roommates in college were straight. One of them said their psychology class or something like that was going to go to Angles and check out all the gay people.
BJ: [indiscriminate noise]
JP: Yeah. I mean, that just freaked me out. I was just like, “I’m not going to Angles.”
BJ: You didn’t want to be under a microscope.
JP: Yeah, and I just thought that was really weird. What do you expect to see? I mean, really.
BJ: Yeah. Whenever you did come out and you embraced that, had you had the feeling it was okay, not okay in society? Was it just –
JP: [pause] I can’t speak for society in general, just the people that I dealt with like the one friend that blew me off. Another friend, who we’re now 50 years old and we’re still friends, she asked me. We used to get together for lunch when her husband was at work and I was off during the week or something. We’d get together. She had like, ten questions leading up to it, and then she finally said, “Are you gay?” I said, “Well, yeah.” She slapped me, you know, on my arm, just playing. “Why haven’t you ever told me?” I told her about my friend Tammy, which obviously she knew because she’s from Ponca also. She said, “Well, that’s just her loss. You’re still her kids’ aunt and you’re always going to be our friend.” Her sister and I were roommates for awhile until she got married. I just saw them. They don’t live in town anymore so I don’t see them too often, but I saw them about a year or so ago.
BJ: Some people you were able to stay close with and other people just kind of –
JP: Right.
BJ: You mentioned that you didn’t really have a lot of bars to go to that were gay friendly because you said you were a little paranoid.
JP: The strip on 39th always made me paranoid. I don’t know why. You’d hear about people getting beat up down there, so I was always really chicken. At 31st and Classen, there was an old church that the bottom floor was a lesbian bar. The middle floor was a guys’ bar, and the top floor had drag shows. Tony Sinclair was one of the biggest drag queens of all time back then. He’s probably – he’s got to be 70 or 75 years old by now but he was so good and so fun. We’d go there to that deal. Someone started talking about there’s only one entrance and one exit, and how it’s kind of down in the basement and how easy it would be to hurt someone. That freaked us out, so we went – my favorite place ended up being DJ’s. It was over on 36th and May. A lady named DJ owned it, and we had a blast there.
BJ: Was that a smaller bar, maybe not so much of a club like the church was?
JP: It was smaller than the church was, but it was still a regular bar with mixed drinks and dancing. Once in awhile there would be a deejay, but mainly a jukebox.
BJ: Was the church called The Church?
JP: No. [pause] Pink Flamingo’s, I think, but each level was called something else. The top one I know at one time was called Tony’s because he ran it. I don’t remember what the guys’ place was, but I’m pretty sure the girls’ bar was Pink Flamingo’s. That was a long time ago.
BJ: How long was it open? How long did it stay open?
JP: It was open quite awhile. The church doesn’t even exist now. It’s been torn down. It went back and forth from different types of bars. It would close down and someone else would buy it and it would be a hip-hop bar. Then it would go to a gay bar again. It was probably one of the biggest ones for quite awhile.
BJ: Outside of DJ’s, you mentioned Angles and 39th Street. Did you go down there?
JP: Once in awhile.
BJ: How was it? How was 39th? Does it look much different today than it did then?
JP: No.
BJ: So exactly the same?
JP: Yeah. No improvements. Nothing.
BJ: They do have The Boom down there now. It’s a two story, very nice place. You should check it out. [laughs]
JP: The Boom?
BJ: Yeah. You know how The Boom used to be next to Partners on 36th?
JP: That’s what DJ’s was, where Partners is.
BJ: Oh, okay. Well, The Boom moved down to 39th and they built a beautiful building. No smoking on one side with a stage and everything. That’s nice. Now Partners has the other side of where The Boom used to be.
JP: Oh, they opened all that up?
BJ: Yeah.
JP: See, it was a guys’ leather bar back there when it was DJ’s.
BJ: Was it all one bar, DJ’s, before it was Partners?
JP: Yeah. That one building had two bars in it. Guys were on one side, women on the other.
BJ: Okay, so it pretty much stayed like that until The Boom moved out.
JP: Yeah. Just the names changed and the owners changed.
BJ: You mentioned to me before about knowing some of the bar owners back then. Can you tell me a little bit about that whole time?
JP: Oh yeah. They were great, the couple that owned DJ’s, DJ and Pam. They had it for years and years and years. They have retired to Eureka Springs now, and I hear about them once in awhile through friends. I think it was Sundays they would have buffets and they supplied all the food. It might be something as cheap as nachos one weekend, but they might have something a little like fried chicken and mashed potatoes the next, you know? They supplied that and all the women went in there and we had Sunday dinner or evening or whatever.
[talking over each other]
JP: It was just, “Oh, we gotta go to DJ’s to eat tonight.” They did that all the time. They were really neat. I think it was shortly after someone followed them and robbed them and they had the bar’s deposit, and they were right by their house and they were shot and injured. DJ, especially, was injured a lot worse than Pam was. We had a huge benefit deal down there. We got a lot of stuff to auction off and people were just donating and raffling and stuff. We raised a lot of money to help them out, help them with medical expenses. Shortly after that, they sold and left and went to Eureka Springs.
BJ: Was there any issues with that places or any of the other places being targeted that you were aware of, or were there any stories of them being targeted for that?
JP: I don’t think they were being targeted because they were lesbian. I think they were being targeted because they had money.
BJ: But did the case ever get solved?
JP: Not to my knowledge. There was never an arrest made to my knowledge.
BJ: What happened to the place after that? Is it Partners as we know it?
JP: No. I don’t remember the next name. It stayed DJ’s for a little while, actually, even though she didn’t own it anymore. A lady named Kathy, I think, owned it. It stayed pretty much the same. She lived way out east and she would have get togethers at her house and those were fun, just big outdoor parties. Picnics and potlucks and everyone would bring a side and charcoals and stuff. That was always really fun. She was really good to the community too. I can’t remember, but I think she moved back to California. She’s been gone for awhile, too. I don’t know the owners now.
BJ: The community, the lesbian and the gay community, was it pretty intermixed even though the bars were separate? I mean, was it welcoming on both sides?
JP: I had a lot of male friends and I still have those friends today. Some of the guys that I knew then, I still associate with. It kind of depended on how the guys were dressed. If they were really leather-clad, DJ was just flat no. They cannot come in, period. She didn’t want anything to do with that. If it was just a guy in a cowboy hat and jeans, she was all, sure come on in, because it was country-western mainly. She was kind of discriminating on who she would let in.
BJ: Well, it’s her bar.
JP: Well, exactly. What is it where you go from bar to bar?
BJ: Bar hopping.
JP: Yeah. The whole crowd just goes and we did that one night and then I was with these guys and they were in a leather club, and so I was with them and they went next door, so I went in to DJ’s and I told them what they were doing, and it was like, “Well, are they next door now?” And I said yes. She said, “Hell, no.” [trails off laughing]
BJ: She wasn’t going to let ‘em in.
JP: No. [laughs]
BJ: But you tried to get ‘em in.
JP: Yeah. That was the only club that would not let them in in a whole city out of seven to ten.
BJ: Gay friendly bars?
JP: Yeah.
BJ: Whenever you said all us girls would go to DJ’s, how big of a group was there? Not just your inner group, but kind of the community, the lesbian community? Were there more or less?
JP: It was packed every weekend. Friday and Saturday night, it was every single table was full and standing room only. I’m sure a couple of hundred people were in there. The last time I was in there, it had changed drastically, like completely remodeled. The size didn’t look that much different, but it was packed, at least those two nights. Sunday, of course, when they had their dinners and stuff, we’d get together for that.
BJ: Would you say there was – how would you say the lesbian community was? Was it a strong community? Was it scattered? Did you have anywhere to go for resources or anything like if you were in search of something in your community? Were you able to find it?
JP: [pause] I don’t know. That’s a tough question. We were young. All we needed was the bar. [laugh] I mean, really.
BJ: Nothing outside of that.
JP: Yeah. I lived in town then and I had a big den and a pool table and we had lots and lots of after parties at my house. Lots of just parties at my house. It was just a group of probably thirty and not all of us were really tight-knit, but there was thirty of us that we were always together. Some of us were closer than others. We went camping a lot. We went canoeing a lot.
BJ: Around in Oklahoma, like floating the river and stuff like that?
JP: Yeah. Smaller groups of us would go on bigger vacations, but yeah. Weekend getaways. We always did that kind of stuff.
BJ: Whenever we lived in Oklahoma City, did you have a good mix of straight and gay friends, or did you pretty much just hang out with the gay community?
JP: No. Both. I’ve always had both straight and gay friends, and a lot of gay guy friends also.
BJ: What – what am I wanting to say? It’s interesting because I know some of these stories so – [both laugh] so I’m like, what story do I want? I know somebody that I always enjoyed listening to you tell me about was your best friend Wes. You guys always had a lot of fun stories and I’ve seen a fun picture. [both laugh] What were some of the crazy – I mean he was a gay male.
JP: Yes, and we were roommates.
BJ: Okay, you guys were roommates. That’s always fun, the lesbian and the gay guy, so would you share a little bit about him?
JP: We both lived in the same apartment complex, and we met through a mutual friend. We ended up being really close, and both our leases were up, so we started looking around and the guy – when we went to look at the house, he thought we were just the sweetest couple, and right after we were talking to him, two guys came in. They were pretty rough-looking, and it was like, they were here first. It was – we always were just the sweet couple that rented the house from him. Like, yeah right. We were very close. We were like brother and sister. I still talk to him some. He travels a lot. He’s a truck driver, so he’s cross-country a lot. We still talk. We’re definitely not as close as we were, but we’re definitely not enemies, either. We partied a lot, went to Halloween parties at his work. We went in leather. That’s the picture I assume you’re referring to, with whips and chains and handcuffs and everything. I looked much better then at 25 than I do at 51. We were a big hit at the party, at his work party, and then we went to – since it was Halloween we went to DJ’s. That’s where I wanted to go. When we went in, we got a lot of stares. They were confused at first. It was really fun. I don’t know what else to say.
BJ: You guys just had fun together.
JP: We did. When he moved away, it was heartbreaking.
BJ: Throughout the years, was there anywhere that you would – where would you go to meet people or to meet lesbians other than the bar or was that just it?
JP: Yeah. The park and the bars – the church where I went a couple of times.
BJ: What church?
JP: Now I think it’s called Church of the Open Arms. I don’t know what the name was back then, but I went a couple of times and it just wasn’t – I don’t have anything against church, but it just seemed strange. I ran into a couple of customers there and I knew those customers were, you know, massive drugheads and then they’re there praying or trolling one Sunday morning. I don’t know. It just made me uncomfortable so I don’t go.
BJ: Speaking of customers, just for the record, I know Julie because she was my boss for seven years at a place. I don’t know. Can I say it? I don’t know. It’s up to you, Julie. We worked as the most famous gas station ever. [both laugh] Speaking of customers, how was it in the workplace? Are you open or - ?
JP: With some. Some vendors have, years ago, and he is one of my straight friends. He just flat out asked me. He was kind of uncomfortable then. It was when Wes and I were living together. “Are you and Wes…uh…are you a couple?” No. “Are you straight?” No. “What do you call it?” [both laugh] Well, Danny, it’s like this. He and I would go out. He’s even been to a gay bar with me many years ago. One afternoon we went and played pool. He would come over to my house. We’d play pool. His wife would come by and get money and she’d go shopping. We showed up at a couple of charity events. It was like, you’re not going to say anything with your husband showing up late to this event and walking in with Julie? That’s why I’m not saying anything with him walking in with Julie. He and I are still friends. I had a fiftieth birthday and he and his wife attended that. The people that are important don’t care. That’s the bottom line. If they do care, then I don’t care.
BJ: Right. What about any relationships or anything in the community or anything else that you would like to share? Or kind of maybe where you’re at now and what you’re doing?
JP: Not much. [both laugh]
BJ: Okay, so I asked you what you did for fun when you were young. What do you do now?
JP: Now I go to the lake a lot. I have a little place over at Grand Lake, and that’s where some of my dearest friends live. I introduced them to that lake many years ago, and they recently – well, they bought a place over there probably five or six years ago. They were fortunate enough to retire last year and move over there full time. They’re on the other side of the lake from me, but I go over and see them, and they have all the toys, so lots of lake playing.
BJ: Sea-doos?
JP: Sea-doos, pontoons.
BJ: And I’m invited?
JP: Anytime.
[both laugh]
JP: It’s just really fun, so I do that. Vacations. I’ve gone on numerous really fun vacations with – there was five or six, all lesbians. We went to Hawaii. One of these friends I’m talking about at the lake, on her fortieth birthday, which was a few years ago, we went to Las Vegas. There was almost ten or fifteen from Oklahoma City. We all went to Vegas and then she was ex-military, and had a bunch of friends in California and Hawaii. They met at the same time, so there was like twenty of us in Vegas celebrating this fortieth birthday. That was really fun. The last few trips have been with gay guys. [giggles] New York City and San Francisco. A straight friend and a gay male couple, and myself went to San Francisco and to New York City. She doesn’t care. She’s straight and has no inkling in any way, shape, or form. She’s always checking out the guys and she doesn’t give a crap who we’re interested in. She’s like how everybody should be. As a matter of fact, me and her and another straight lady’s getting ready to take another trip here in a couple of weeks. We’re going to San Antonio.
BJ: So like you said, the ones that are close, it doesn’t matter.
JP: Right, and both of them know and they don’t give a crap. It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t define me. I’m still the same person I always was.
BJ: Yeah. I agree. So, dating. Maybe talk a little bit about that?
JP: I haven’t dated in awhile. My last relationship just about did me in and I really haven’t even been interested. Two of my friends I actually introduced. They’re going on almost 25 years now. Once in awhile, I’ll think, well maybe I ought to return the favor. I’ve gone out a couple of times with them and I just can’t get into it. I don’t know why. I’m not interested in bars at all. The smoke, I cannot stand it. I would rather be in an environment where you can have a conversation with someone instead of yelling at them over the music. That, I’m sure, is an age thing. I want to listen to my music, but not have a conversation yelling at you over the music. I’m just not a big bar fan.
BJ: Do you feel like in Oklahoma City that’s really the only option there is for women to meet other women?
JP: If there’s anything else, I don’t know of it. I have dated a customer or two.
BJ: Or three.
JP: No, just two. I think just two. I ended up in a relationship with one of them. I dated an employee. Oops.
[both laugh]
BJ: Well, things happen. Yeah, I think dating customers is a given if you’re going to work in a gas station. I don’t know why. It just always happens. Julie, is there anything I didn’t ask that you would like to ask?
JP: [pause]
[BJ’s sound is suddenly very muffled and echo-y 36:00-38:00]
BJ: One thing that I noticed is you have a lot of male friends. Is there a reason that you prefer male friendships? Do you prefer male friendships?
JP: No. My friends Pat and Molly over at the lake, they’re female. They’ve been my friends for [pause] 25-plus years. Most of my adult life, they’ve been a part of my life. A couple of guys – we don’t run around so much anymore because I moved way east and they moved way west. We see each other, but you know, there’s not a whole lot of socializing like there used to be. The other male couple that I ran around with a lot and took vacations and stuff with, they have grandkids now, so that’s kind of went by the wayside.
BJ: But you don’t have a preference for male friendships versus female friendships?
JP: No. Definitely not.
BJ: Do you think there’s a difference between your male friends and your female friends in the way the relationship works?
JP: Oh, definitely. The friends at the lake, we have fun, you know? We’re out on the lake. We’re playing. We can talk about anything in the world. I would never in my wildest dreams call them anything, but one of those guys, I’m going to call him a faggot. [both laugh] I am! But they’re going to turn around and they’re going to call me a dyke. If anyone else did that, you know – even my straight friends have never, ever gone there, and they wouldn’t. They’re like, I don’t give a crap. They would never go there. The guys, it’s more playful, I think, with the guys. If I had a serious problem, I’m not really sure I would want to talk to any of the guys. Maybe one of them. As a general rule, if I wanted to cry on someone’s shoulder it’s not going to be any of the guys.
[BJ’s audio returns to normal]
BJ: They’d be like, “Get over it, sweetie.”
JP: Yeah.
[both laugh]
JP: Or, oh I’m sorry.
BJ: I did think of one thing. You mentioned your friends having grandbabies. Do you have any friends, couples, that are still together or not with kids?
JP: I do not. Nobody in my group of friends has kids at all, which I’m glad because I’m not really crazy about the little two-leggers. [both laugh] They have lots of four-leggers though. I mean, my straight friends don’t have kids. One straight friend has an adult child that’s never been an issue.
BJ: But they’ve never had any where you’re like, “God, get away!”
JP: Yeah, I mean, you know, when we have parties at her house, there’s not kids underfoot.
BJ: Right. Yeah. Anything else you wanted to add or take away or keep?
JP: I’m good.
BJ: Thank you, Julie Pink.
[both laugh]
JP: You’re so welcome.
BJ: Cool. Yay! We did it!
End of interview