I love working at home, but every once in a while, I just have to get out of the house to be around people. Sometimes I take my laptop with me to work at Panera Bread for an entire afternoon. Sometimes, I leave my laptop behind and just grab lunch somewhere before heading back to my office. I usually catch small slices of humanity is both cases and that's what I'm after.
Last Thursday, I had the urge to get out, so I went to an area Arbys. I took my food to a table and sat down with my moleskine notebook to jot down a few thoughts. Just a few tables away, a group of five elderly men and one teenage boy were chatting about the upcoming Nebraska vs. Texas game. Well, actually they were still talking about the Nebraska vs. Kansas State game from the week before, but they eventually transitioned to the upcoming game against Texas.
A woman about their age who works at Arbys came by to check on them, and they knew her by name, which I thought was pretty cool. Turns out, she had some bad news for them--a man they all knew had a heart attack recently. That sort of bummed everybody out. She quickly transitioned into another story about a newlywed couple they all knew who were "still acting like its their honeymoon." They all got a kick out of that.
"Honey do this. Honey do that," one of them said and they all laughed.
Then they turned to church matters and a slight argument broke out about the budget.
"You mean to tell me Norm that when your electric bill goes up by 6% that you don't budget 6% more?"
"When the well is dry, the well is dry. That's what I'm saying."
Back and forth they went. Turns out they all go to the same church and they were about to have a congregational meeting that night to discuss such matters.
The one who was in favor of raising the budget (and apparently had the authority to do it) said, "If you have a problem with something in the meeting, I expect you to stand up and say something."
"When everybody sticks their tongues out at me when I do stand up, how come you don't know anything about that? And you always end up saying that I elected you guys. I might have elected you, but I don't always agree with you. Is your grandson coming tonight? Call him. I want a back up."
I started laughing so hard that I was afraid they were going to notice me and figure out that I could hear everything they'd been saying. Thankfully, they didn't. They kept at it, and I returned to my office feeling like I got exactly what I'd been hoping for when I decided to venture out for lunch.