Ponderings 9-20-09

Ponderings of a Pilgrim PASTOR

“Counter Culture”

            My only experience as a waiter was in the Otsego United Methodist Church when I was a teenager, helping to serve at church dinners.  (I can still remember that great home cooking!)  Barbara had a more real experience.  She worked as a hostess at the Sunsations Restaurant in Sun City Center, Florida.  Being a “hostess” turned into being a “waitress” since the place never had enough help.  (Personal note:  we met while Barbara was working there.)

            These days when I go to lunch at Wally’s, Chattanooga’s place to meet and eat for the in-crowd as well as the rest of us, I nearly always sit at the counter where I greet Debbie, the counter waitress, and she greets me:  “Hi, Dave.”  The same thing happens when Barbara and I catch a quick breakfast at the Waffle House on Shallowford on our way to church.  Laurie usually waits on us and we exchange greetings and personal happenings since we last saw each other.

            The special thing about waitresses is that sooner than later they know who you are and, more often than not, learn your name.  There’s a new book out called “Counter Culture:  The American Coffee House Waitress.”  It contains wonderful anecdotes about the special connection that develops between waitresses and their “regulars.”  One waitress in Washington, D.C. says that “If a customer comes in three times, I consider them a regular.  By then I know their name, what they eat, if their mother is ill, or if they need surgery.”

            When somebody makes the effort to get to know not only our name but also important things in our life it makes a real difference doesn’t it?  Wouldn’t it be great if all of us at Pilgrim made the same effort to greet not only our “regulars” but also our visitors and newcomers?  Who knows, we might even have more customers!

Love,

Pastor Dave