Saturday, March 22, 2014

Slice of Life Day Twenty-Two: Where Everyone Knows Your Name

 On a Friday night at about 5:00 if you walked into our neighborhood restaurant/bar, you would find us sitting in a booth.  We almost always go to this local hangout. We walk in and the hostess smiles and says, "Yes, your booth is free in the bar. Go on in and I'll bring your menus."  We take the middle booth and the waitress comes with our Diet Cokes in her hands.  I almost always get the turkey and cheese on a pretzel bun. I add minestrone soup in the winter or a salad in the summer.  We catch up with the weather or gossip with the hostess before she heads back to her station. Then we settle in for our comfortable evening!  We love the Italian Grille on a Friday night.
It's Saturday night and we just look at each other and say, "The usual?"  Off we go to the Main Street of our county seat hometown. The hostess sees us and asks where we want to sit. We tell her that we really want a booth, but if those are full we will take a table by the front windows.  Soon after we settle in we ask if Sara is working tonight. If she is, she finds us and heads over to chat. We find out what has been happening in her life and she teases us about wearing t-shirts or hoodies with the name of a city we have visited. She asks about our week and how we are doing. Again, our diets are brought to us without having to tell anyone. My usual meal here is their unwrap...a sort of flat bread pizza.  I have to have the Hawaiian with ham and pineapple, but light on the BBQ sauce. Mad Anthony's is a chain in northern Indiana and we love ours in Auburn.
Yes, one of the benefits of living in a small town is that everyone knows your name!  And what you want to eat or drink.

3 comments:

  1. I am SO envious. I always tell my husband how badly I want to live in a small town where everyone knows your name. I want a home with a giant wrap-around porch with still nights and sounds of crickets and nothing in sight for miles. I was so happy when my parents bought a place in Leesburg, IN. I love it there.

    ReplyDelete
  2. How nice to live where you know everyone. I taught in a small village but did not live there. I had come from the city...and so lived in the city and drove to the school. I remember going to a home football game after the first week of school...and kept hearing people call my name...saying hello...stopping to talk...I was the new teacher that everyone knew...but I was clueless to who most of them were. That is one reason I stayed there...for 36 years...they made me feel like part of their family. Jackie http://familytrove.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  3. How comforting to know these places still exist! Our neighborhood has a homey feel, but I've yet to frequent a local place often enough to inspire that type of familiarity. Thanks for sharing that slice with us!

    ReplyDelete