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My wife had a Christmas luncheon with the neighborhood ladies’ group. Which meant I had to find something to eat or go to a restaurant and eat by myself. I go up to the local family-owned restaurant and before I pull into a spot another car has pulled into another spot before me. This gentleman goes in a few moments before me.  

We are waiting to be seated and there is about twelve of the tables and booths already taken with customers. As we are waiting, he asks me “have I ever eaten here before?” I reply “yes I have, and it is clean, and the food is ok. As we were waiting, I don’t know what came over me, but I asked him, “do you want to eat together?” There was a pause, and he said, “sure why not”. I have never done this before! What was I thinking? 

When we went to the booth, He introduced himself and his name is Chuck. I replied with my name and shook hands before we sat down across from each other. Is this going to be an awkward situation or a time to remember? Chuck was a man maybe late forties, early fifties with a greying beard and his clothes were neat and clean. No, that is not a photo of chuck. That is a photo I just pirated from the internet that looks close to what Chuck looked like. 

I said to Chuck, “I live near here do you live around here?” Chuck said, “no I live in Boston, and I am here on a business trip to see a client.” I replied, what kind of business do you have? Chuck replied, I am a web site designer and one of my customers needed some personal attention. Like a dummy I asked, is your client somewhere near?” Chuck replied, “sorry, that is privileged information, and my client wants to remain unknown.” I immediately thought, is this going to be an awkward uncomfortable lunch?  

Chuck then asked me, “are you still working?” I responded and said, “thanks for the compliment. I have been retired for over twenty years and haven’t worked a day for a salary since I retired. He said, “well you sure do not look your age. I said, “since 2006 every day is Saturday and do not have any serious commitments or deadlines to meet.” I do spend a lot of time blogging and writing down memories of my time and adventures I have experienced. 

Somewhere in the conversation we shared our family situations. Chuck has lived in Boston all his life. He has two children, a boy and a girl. The boy is two years older than the girl and the boy graduated from college a year ago and the girl is a senior in college. I shared that I have two sons and they are near fifty and both live in the Denver metro area with their family and I also have four stepchildren from a second marriage, two boys and two girls. This conversation is becoming more relaxed all the time. 

We then discovered that both of us were Army veterans. I was in the army in 1964 to 1966. I was stationed to Nurenburg Germany and fortunately missed Viet Nam. Chuck was in the army 2001 to 2005. When you find out that a veteran is talking to a veteran there is this wall that automatically disappears. I don’t know what there about military service is, but this bond develops that cannot be explained. I also find out Chuck was in Iraq the same time as my youngest son in 2003. They were also in the Third Armored Calvary Regiment but different squadrons. Sometimes it is a small world.  

Here is another example of a small world. My wife and I were in Rome visiting the coliseum and these men are around dressed in Roman soldier attire. My wife needs a picture and during the process the soldier asks where are we from. We tell him Denver Metro area. He responds by saying, “I know Denver area. In the off season I live in Greeley Colorado. We are 5000 miles away from Denver and meet someone who lives in Greeley which is about 40 miles northeast of Denver. Yes, sometimes it is a small world. 

The conversation is going very well and both of us appear to be enjoying that we sat together instead of eating alone. We talked about many different subjects, cars, weather, Boston history for just a few. An hour passed very quickly and Chuck said he should go back to his client. I asked when he is going back to Boston and he said later this evening. This was a very enjoyable meeting and we left without even sharing our last names or any contact information. I have never been very well in extending a friendship and I guess Chuck isn’t either. This meeting enforces my feeling that millions of people are basically good on this earth and are just attempting to do their best with what they have to face. This became a time to be remembered. Will I ever do this again? Only time will tell.