A chocolate shake and an old-fashioned hamburger are all you need
Part of my job is to attend city council meetings. It’s one of those once-a-month events where you know you’ll be one of the few people in the audience to experience the tried and true ritual of local government meetings.
The hitting of the gavel is first, then the pledge, in our town an opening prayer, and then the business of making decisions. Everyone is cordial to each other. Sometimes town people show up to state their concerns, their needs.
For me, the highlight comes after the meeting when one of the city officials always invites me for a chocolate shake at one of the hamburger joints a few blocks away. I don’t have the chocolate shake; he does. And he really enjoys it.
It takes a while for us to make our order. The chocolate shake enthusiast knows everyone, and if he doesn’t know them, he wants to know them. He’s a retired educator, and he swears everyone in town under the age of 50 was in his high school history class.
That includes me. I was in his class back in the 1990s. So was the waitress, and her sister. He shakes everyone’s hands, asks them how they have been and what they are doing these days. “You’re going to college, right?” he asks.
No matter what they answer, he gives them some encouragement and lets them know…
