Fred and I enjoy breakfast out on Saturday mornings, a holdover from the days when weekends were the time to kick back. Small town America is at its’ best at a local restaurant on Saturday mornings.
As soon as we walk in the front door we hear the laughter, the conversations and the noise.
Every one of the “crows” is perched around the big round table, like crows lined up on a telephone wire.
Boy, are they having fun!
There’s more wisdom being dispensed than if Socrates and Plato were there sipping coffee! Veronica, the waitress, stays busy keeping their coffee cups full and they reciprocate with good tips and, oh yes, lots of that wisdom.
King Arthur and his Round Table has nothing on this bunch!
If you want to know how much it rained, who won the ball game last night, why the price of wheat fell again or just who is related to who, you’ve got the right place!
They cuss Obama and the Republicans too. No political identity is spared. The fun thing is, after any one of them makes a point, EVERYONE laughs!
Reggie, the mortician hands me a sheet of paper as we walk in the front door. It is Reggie’s latest joke and he can’t wait for me, and others, to read it.
Quiet and somber, this guy isn’t! He’s the only one of the sages dressed in a shirt and tie.
Waldo, an auctioneer/farmer is resplendent in a new pair of Bib overalls and a freshly ironed shirt. His cackle as he responds to the latest joke is loud and distinctive.
A number of the participants are farmers so naturally the room gets lots of agricultural information, from the rainfall report to how the corn and soybeans are doing AND as to why the prices are so poor. They are distinctive in that most of them have a holster attached to their belt.
No, not a one of them are packing a pistol. They are packing pliers. As Melvin says, “a good farmer doesn’t go anywhere without a pair of pliers.”
Seems to me that a hammer would be better. That’s what I would carry. A hammer would win more arguments than a pair of pliers and from the sounds of things, there’s plenty of good-natured arguments coming forth from this big table!
Surprisingly only one of these fun-lovers was wearing a ball cap.
Rufus said, “it covers my bald head.” Most of the guys have got plenty of hair, some gray — well, LOTS of gray, but hey, many of we gals wish we had hair like that!
The “Chairman of the Board” had on the biggest, widest pair of suspenders you’ve ever seen. As trim as he is I’m not sure why he needs suspenders to hold up his blue jeans. Maybe he lost his belt in a poker game with these guys. He says he doesn’t know why he is the appointed “Chairman.” Nothing official about it, it just evolved.
They laugh, they tease and they have a great time.
They dispense a ton of wisdom, all of it absolutely free. They don’t argue about who has the most or biggest, unlike some younger folks who spend a lot of time telling you what they HAVE, these guys brag and argue about what they DON’T have!
Saturday morning breakfast at the local diner in small town America — it doesn’t get any better than that!

“A Woman’s View” is Judi Tabler’s reflection of her experiences and events. She is a wife, mother, writer, teacher, grandmother, and even a great grandmother.