I work for a newspaper and the editor called me into his office. He would often send me on an assignment that would lead me to interesting areas but not anything that was exciting. This time he said he wanted me to do a story on the urban cowboy. Huh? What in the name of God is so interesting about an urban cowboy? I decided I’d better get with the scene and do as I was told.

I headed out of the city and wound up in a small western town about 30 miles from San Francisco. The town was so small, all they had were a couple of eating places, a gift shop, a post office, a saloon, a western saddle store and a church. Where in the heck was I going to find such an urban cowboy?

I decided I’d better go to the saloon and see if there was any kind of interest there. I arrived at the saloon about nine o’clock in the evening. There were only 2 cars and a motorcycle parked on the street so, I knew there wasn’t going to be much action. I was surprised when I walked in to find there were 15 guys in there and 5 gals. They were hot into a pool game, drinking beer and the music was so loud, it echoed for a block.

I was dressed in my Levi’s and just a T-shirt and felt that I fit right into the crowd. I noticed a couple of guys that looked as though they just came in from the range. Slight stubble beards, tight Levi’s and western type shirts. At first, I felt a little uncomfortable but, the longer I sat there with my beer and watched, the more comfortable I began to feel.

At one point, a rugged looking guy came up to the bar to get himself another beer. He looked at me and nodded his head as kind of a "hello" greeting. He got his beer and turned to me and said, "You’re not from around here, are you?" I told him that I was a newspaper reporter and was sent to do a story on the life of an urban cowboy. He smiled and said, "Well, you’ve come to the right place for that." He started pointing out various guys in the saloon and describing the various type jobs they do. "Now, Jim over there, works at a sheep ranch and it’s his job to herd them for sheering." It wasn’t long before he pointed to one guy and said, "There’s the all around cowboy. He does just about everything there is to do on a ranch."

The guy he was pointing to was thin, muscular and a couple of dames in the place seemed to be huddling around him talking and laughing. The guy telling me about him said, "His name is Alex and if you wanted to do a story about a cowboy, he would be the one you should talk to because he knows just about everything there is to the job."

I thanked the guy for the information and worked my way over toward Alex. He looked up and immediately said, "Hey dude. What’s up?" I couldn’t help but notice his dark hair, stubble beard and his 6 foot 2 inch muscled body. What a handsome specimen of a young man. I introduced myself and told him that I was looking for someone to interview for an article I was writing. He grinned and said, "Are you looking for anyone in particular?"