Battle of Hamburger Hill

I was sitting at Panera Bread this morning, which was playing Christmas music, waiting for my laptop to finish installing Windows updates. I suppose I should have either done that the day prior or turned those settings off because quite honestly I waited for a while. Thankfully, I brought my textbook from class so at least I had something to read. I tried to get online but I anticipated the connection would be severed to some degree. It was, but something is better than nothing. Rather than talk about what I did (since I'd rather leave that up to your convoluted imaginations anyway. If it helps, I was in the back corner such that nobody could see my laptop from behind), I'd like to reflect on the disparity between two different social constructs I was able to observe in this setting. I was alone for about an hour, but at 8:30 an older gentleman came back to where I was seated, asking if he could put the blinds up. I kindly provided permission (since, you know, that’s totally what he was asking), and he sat down alone at a table across from mine with a cherry Danish. I observed that he observed the birds sitting outside, at which point I was reminded very much of myself. Around the same time, two business partners came in and sat on the back corner adjacent to mine. They were wearing a noticeable amount of cologne, dressed in suits, generally ready to take on the economic dilemma of the day... or so it seemed. From what I gathered, one of these individuals was waiting on the other individual for a report. But this report was simply a representation of numbers that were gathered the week prior. Now regarding the subject matter - that I don't know.

Back to the older gentleman, a friend of his came in and sat beside him. Let's call the older gentleman Jerry - I feel as though that's fitting since he looked like a Jerry. But I try really hard not to judge people based on how they look. In this case, however, a form of identification is necessary; so rather than comment on his appearance or attire, I'll just use an irrelevant title devoid of meaningful context. Jerry offered his friend, who was of similar age, the cherry Danish, before getting up to bring back another cherry Danish. A third friend came in, and soon a fourth. By this point, these four individuals had ordered breakfast and had a discussion regarding the improvement of Bob's back. One of Jerry's friends - we'll call him Arnold - noted that he was weighing in at 207 pounds, which was less than he had weighed in ten years! I'm happy I got to be part of this milestone. The rest of the group also shared their numbers - 217, 230, and 209. But then the "youngster" came in, who was not much younger than the rest of the group. I quickly realized ergo that there was some slight humor present in these older folk. The Youngster was the talkative one of the group - he had an apple Danish. The "Man with a Plan" came in shortly hereafter, and sat at one end of the table. You know, for someone with a plan, he didn't talk much. But perhaps verbal communication is not the only indication that a plan is ever so present. After all, I'm full of plans but I rarely discuss them publicly. Perhaps this individual was planning on restarting his life-long business or discussing the arrangement of his step-daughter's second divorce. Either way, these guys knew something I did not. A seventh gentleman came in, discussing what he believed was the coalition between Obama's legal team and Trump's legal team. The Youngster hollered at the Man with a Plan for sharing a difference in opinion, but shortly hereafter apologized for that tragic out roar. A variety of Danishes were present on the table at this point - apple, cherry, and cheese, notably. One of the group members showed kindred interest in the apparent merging of Staples and Office Max - just where would they get their ink?! One of the gentlemen orders his ink directly from HP in which he noted provides free shipping. I'll have to check that out! A couple came in and sat at the table across from the group, but they left without adding anything of value to the conversation.

At this point, the two business gentlemen had gone further to discuss the content of their next meeting, which would be at 7:30pm next Wednesday. However, one of these individuals would need a sitter that night and thus would not be available without proper planning. The gentleman had set up a conference meeting for tomorrow, but it wouldn't go as planned unless he had the report requested of the other individual. They went into discussing the economic statistics of the city I was in, which led me to believe that these gentlemen were either government employees or real estate agents. They couldn't be part of a law firm - why would they need an economic report that has little to do with law and order? The two sat quiet for a moment, supposedly reflecting on the details of their conversation. I never looked at these individuals - I only listened. I realized that they were researching locations around the area I live; specifically, they were looking for cities. I'm not sure why, but I could probably write all day trying to figure it out. I enjoy a good mystery. They laughed and shared jovial discourse while discussing one of the gentleman's wife's birthday. Maybe that's why he was researching locations? Perhaps there is a nice margarita joint down in Boynton? By the close of their meeting, they had successfully scheduled the meeting for 7:30, and planned the wife's birthday to follow that. They departed, which is when my attention was once again focused on the group of older gentlemen.

The Youngster at this point needed more coffee - he said that he forget his coffee mug at home. Well that's a damn shame. One of the individuals had an appointment with an attorney on the 13th of next month. This attorney was in West Palm but was agreeing to come up to where we were. At this point, an individual named Bill came in and joined, making him the eighth individual to be part of the group. Gifts were given by all the gentlemen to all the other gentlemen. "God bless you," I heard several times as the gentlemen opened their humble gifts. Bill suggested that the Youngster consider some new energy pointers, continuing by igniting the argument of solar energy. Such humble topics, along with credit problems and politics, were the focus of this group's morning. The individual in the corner of the table made a smart observation - he said that everything is about the money, in reference to the energy argument. In that, he was suggesting that money would be the motivator in whichever source of energy triumphed. By this point, the group partitioned into several smaller groups as the individuals had more one-on-one conversations with each other regarding these similar topics. I got up to leave.

But then, something different happened. As I walked over to unplug my laptop, one of the individuals asked me if I knew how to use a computer. I answered affirmatively, and he requested I look up a specific article regarding the Battle of Hamburger Hill back in 1969. I was initially confused, so I inquired as to why. Mind you, I was in no rush to get anywhere, and after reflecting on what I observed from these individuals it might be worthwhile to actually speak to them. The individual told me that he wanted to show “Jerry” the article he was in, at which point I realized that this wasn’t just some group of old gentle folk. This was a group of disabled Veterans. I sat down with this individual – let’s call him Ronaldo – and spent about half an hour trying to locate the specific article with him. During this time, he reflected with me on how exactly the battle went down. Now I’m not one to believe everything I hear, but this was a damn believable situation. Ronaldo introduced me to the group – the Youngster watched Pearl Harbor go down. One of the unnamed gentlemen had been to elections in all fifty US states. Bob was the pilot of the chopper just behind the chopper that dropped a bomb on Japanese soil. Bill was a blimp pilot for Goodyear for nearly 23 years. And “The Man With a Plan?” Well, I didn’t get to hear his story. Nonetheless, I gracefully greeted these folk and thanked them for service. They thanked me for my time, and before I knew it I left the café with a host of Veteran friends who meet there every Wednesday morning (from what I learned). What a wonderful way to start my day.

It's incredible what you can learn by sitting inside a place on a Wednesday morning and eavesdropping on the conversations of others.

Wow, I really enjoyed reading this! It's wonderful that you keep blogging here, albeit occasionally. Your entries are full of insight and deep thinking that are clearly very mature and wonderful to read; I learned a lot just by following your thought process. Thank you for providing me with an excellent opportunity to be transported into a seemingly everyday situation illustrated in great detail through brilliant writing.

Nature Freak wrote: Wow, I really enjoyed reading this! It's wonderful that you keep blogging here, albeit occasionally. Your entries are full of insight and deep thinking that are clearly very mature and wonderful to read; I learned a lot just by following your thought process. Thank you for providing me with an excellent opportunity to be transported into a seemingly everyday situation illustrated in great detail through brilliant writing.

Warning: Spoiler!

Also do you have one avatar for every season or just two, one for spring and one for winter?

Thank you for taking an interest in my writing. I feel you'll find it worthwhile to know that I wrote this particular blog in real-time - that is, most of what I wrote was written as it happened. That's what I was doing on my laptop this morning - a nice change in pace I'd say. And I can't wait to do it again.

Regarding the avatar, I did have one planned for the summer and fall season; but as you picked up on, my activity slowed down throughout both seasons. As such, I'll have to wait until next year. The snowflakes will make their return, however!