A holiday story

I'm going to tell you a story that my workout buddy from the J. Smith Young YMCA told me recently.

It's a great story for the holidays. Actually, it's a great story for anytime, so I hope I get it right.

Johnson's Drive-In in Siler City.

 My buddy's name is John Pacific (Yes, that's his real name. It's not a pseudonym to protect the innocent, or a stage name to make you laugh. It's real. As such, I'm considering changing my name to Bruce Atlantic, figuring that between the two of us we'd pretty much have the whole world covered). 

Over the last couple of years, John and I have become good friends, working out side-by-side on our recumbent bicycles. We talk about everything from sports to politics to becoming old men.

The other day, we talked about cheeseburgers.

I don't remember how this particular conversation got started, but I'm pretty sure it involved food right from the get-go. We'd serendipitously bumped into each other at The Dog House in High Point not too long ago, which is a place where they serve really great hot dogs. I think that memory somehow morphed into me asking him if he'd ever had cheeseburgers from Johnson's Drive-In in Siler City, just off Rt. 64.

He said he had not.

"OMG! You've got to go!" I said, involuntarily salivating down my chin as my voice rose. "Best cheeseburgers ever! They use Velveeta cheese! You gotta go!"

Mmm, mmm, good

 I gave him some particulars about the place. It's been in business since just after World War II. It's smaller than your average cedar closet, with maybe six booths and perhaps another eight seats at the counter, so you need to get there early before the line gets too big. They close the place down when they run out of meat for the day. And you need to be on a mission to go there because it's about an hour from Lexington. But the place has been written up in Our State magazine and it's been the subject of numerous TV segments, even here in Lexington. It's a special place.

The other day, I got a text from John telling me that he and his wife, Jane, had finally stopped at Johnson's, and they loved it.

But there was more to the story.

"When Jane and I got there, we saw an empty booth and went right to it," said John. "When we sat down, I looked up and saw there was a cluster of people by the door that I realized were there before us. I told Jane we can't sit here, there were people waiting ahead of us.

"We got up and I apologized to the people waiting and told them this was our first time here and we didn't know how it worked. They told us it was OK, don't worry about it, but don't leave.

"While we're waiting, I notice the people who were leaving with their take-out orders were paying with cash only," said John. "I didn't have any, and I asked Jane if she had any cash on her. She looked in her pocketbook and said she had six dollars.

"I told her, 'That's not going to cut it. We need to go. We'll just come back another time.'

"We started to leave when this fellow behind me put his hand on my shoulder and said 'You're not going anywhere. This is your first time here. This is my treat. Order anything you want.'

"I couldn't believe it," said John. "I tried to tell him he didn't have to do that, but he insisted. So we waited a little bit until two seats opened up at the counter.

"It was great. We sat next to a guy who's been coming to Johnson's three days a week for 35 years," said John. "And we sat in front of the grill watching them make the burgers. They take these balls of meat, put them on the grill and then flatten them with a spatula.

"Then they cover them with Velveeta cheese," said John. "Jane said hers was the best burger she'd ever had."

John said when they got up to leave, Jane asked the waitress for the name of the guy who paid for their meal. He's a regular several-times-a-weeker, too.

"I told the waitress the next time we're here, I'm going to leave an envelope with money in it and could she give it to the man who paid for our meal? She told me she'd make sure he got it.

"This was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen," said John. "I don't know if it was because it was the Christmas season, or what. But I'll never forget this. Wow."

We seem to be living in strange times these days. There sometimes seems to be a veil of wariness around us, a sense of caution about the things – or people – we've never seen before. What John and Jane experienced, I think, is how a random act of kindness – even in a burger joint – can be a continuing work of art that defines the nature of our better angels.

It's a great story.