Tuesday, February 17, 2015

The Texas Roadhouse



Sunday noon, we were invited to the Texas Roadhouse by our son and his family to have lunch.  Although I enjoy going there, it’s always very, very noisy and busy, and this time was no different.  There were eight of us all together, and I couldn’t hear the conversation at the other end of the table much of the time due to all of the noise and hubbub.
So as I sat at the end of the table and enjoyed my filet medallions, I began watching the wait staff as they went about their business.  And I counted five different employees, besides the manager, who stopped by our table to bring something or take something away, or just ask how things were going.  One of those five was our server, but the other four were people who did who-knows-what who brought the salads, drinks, etc., or who took away empty plates.
And crowded though the place was, everyone seemed to zig at just the right time or zag over to the other side to avoid collisions with other wait staff who were busy carrying this or going here or there.  I don’t know what it’s like at that restaurant behind the scenes where the meat cutters hand-cut the steaks, or where the bakers bake the delicious rolls, or where the dishwashers clean up the messes.  But from what I see in the public area, the wait staff and employees do a good job of working together, getting done what needs to be done, even if it may not necessarily be their job or their table.
I don’t want to go so far as to say they were a well-oiled machine, but they did give the impression of a group of people who, if they didn’t truly enjoy what they did, at least they didn’t hate it.  And they seemed to have the best interests of the customer and of other employees in mind as they went about their work.  There was no room for slackers or malcontents on the day I was there.
It’s like that, of course, in many arenas of living.  Families, work, civic groups, church…people need to work together and look out for others, offering to help out wherever needed even if it isn’t in their job descriptions.  It seems we’d do a lot better as a society if we practiced this kind of helpfulness and cooperation in what we do and how we do it instead of working desperately to get whatever is “in it for me.”
Jesus said as much when he said, “As you would that men should do to you, do also unto them likewise.”  This, the Golden Rule, is also said like this, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
He also said that the two greatest commandments are to love God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as you love yourself.  He then went on to explain that one’s neighbor was virtually everyone else besides oneself.  Loving our neighbor means that we’ll desire the best for them and work to that end.  Loving our neighbor means that we’ll put our desires below the needs of our neighbor.  Loving our neighbor means that we’ll sacrifice if necessary for them.
How are you doing in following the Golden Rule or the greatest commandments?  What are you actively doing to train yourself to look at others first?  How are you coming along in the greed and selfishness categories?
The Texas Roadhouse bunch seemed to have it together Sunday, and they showed it in their ability to serve many people in a crowded, noisy environment and make it a pleasant experience for everyone.  Can we Christians do any less?

Monday, February 09, 2015

An Enigma



”The power to unlock tomorrow is found in a box.’  So says the TV ad for Kellogg’s Mini Wheats cereal.  Now, if you think about that more than for just 1/10 of a second, you will quickly realize just how dumb (yes, I’m using that word) that sentence is.  Shredded wheat has the power to unlock tomorrow??  Give me a break.
Of course, there are those who are not ad executives who will “absorb” that statement over time and gradually, gradually, gradually, that statement will grow on them.  They will become convinced that, if not Mini Wheats at least, they can find the power to unlock tomorrow from any of a number of “things” from vehicles to cans of beer to toothpaste.
I have a couple of comments.
First, I’m not sure I even want to unlock tomorrow.  “Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”  The words of Jesus in Matthew 6:34.  I have enough to deal with today to have to think about tomorrow.  Do I really want to “unlock” tomorrow today?
Second, although I know what they were saying in the ad, and why they were saying it (the healthy effects of eating whole grains), they were just awfully presumptuous, I think, in how they said it.  Of course, that’s what makes ads successful, but it seems to me that we the public are all too gullible to believe just anything that’s told to us.
We are manipulated.  We are managed.  We are maneuvered.  And we not only allow it; we embrace it.  We go along with it all.  What is it with the human race, and western culture specifically, that makes us that way?  And why?
I am told that there is an app making headway that will reserve a table for you at a restaurant…for a fee.  You will pay anywhere from two dollars to fifty dollars or more just for the privilege of getting a table at a restaurant.  The price depends on demand, the popularity of the restaurant, and who else you’re apt to see there (or who else may see you there).  I’ve never paid to get a table at a restaurant and I don’t intend to do so.  I’ll eat at  Burger King before I do that.
We are truly an enigma.  We like to parrot our independence.  Yet we pay big bucks so we can say we’ve been to the fancy restaurant that some star goes to from time to time.  We say that no one is going to make decisions for us.  Yet we blindly accept what we’re told in TV ads that range from the absurd to the ridiculous.  We say we’re open-minded, yet we vote straight tickets in elections.
Ira Stamphill said it well in 1950 in his song, “I Know Who Holds Tomorrow.”  Listen to the refrain of the song.

Many things about tomorrow
I don't seem to understand
But I know who holds tomorrow
And I know who holds my hand