Mentoring - Man Style

I went to McDonald's this morning to have a sausage biscuit and a cup of coffee.  I know that it is very fashionable in some circles these days to malign McDonald's. But as I sat there listening to the conversations, I realized that the local McDonald's in our area is providing an environment for the development of relationships.

I have talked with many of you in the past years lamenting the loss of a "third place" in our culture.  A place where people in a community congregate to relate.  Think English pubs, French cafes, coffee houses, small town cafes, etc.  Someplace close to home and easy to get to.  Because of the way we have zoned our neighborhoods, put together with a variety of other reasons, we have lost those places in recent years.  It contributes to our isolation!

But, this morning, at least at our local McDonald's, I saw and heard elements of the "third place" returning.  The people sitting at multiple tables behind me apparently knew one another.   They had not come in together nor had they arranged this meeting, but were seemingly accustomed to meeting one another there as there were a few comments about "where have you been lately" and "I missed you yesterday", etc. 

They quickly launched into a fairly long conversation about recent oil changes.  Where, when, how much it cost, the virtues of paying to have it done versus doing it yourself.  To a casual listener, it would have seemed like irrelevant small talk.  However, tucked in the middle of this conversation as they talked about recent oil changes for their adult children, where a few minutes of discussion about how to relate to these grown children.  Empathy was expressed and advice was shared.  Then, they were back to discussing oil changes, then new tires.

They had not called one another together to discuss relationship issues with grown children.  They had just casually met for a cup of coffee at McDonald's.  The relationship conversation happened in the middle of that. It was mentoring, Man Style!     

Comments

GodinChristinme said…
Awesome. Thank you for sharing this.
I am on twitter @sogwap2008 God Bless you in the wonderful name of Jesus Christ.
March 9, 2011 at 11:59 PM
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