I left Santa Barbara about 6:00 pm. I was a bit tired after three days on the road. There had been an interagency meeting in the morning, and then I lead a 3-hour training workshop in the afternoon.
About an hour into the 6-hour drive home, feeling hungry, I stopped at an In-n-Out Burger in Santa Maria. Santa Maria is an ag-and-oil town, sprawling and charmless.
I skipped the drive-through lane, and instead parked up and walked inside to order, still in my business suit. A high-school wrestling team had got in ahead of me.
As I found my place in line, the coach appeared and told the kids to stand aside and let me through to the front. I thanked him in my public voice and headed to the counter, happy to act a part in his lesson to the kids.
I’m not that well-traveled, but there’s something about this experience that struck me as very American–perhaps it was the way the coach was so well-mannered and so informal at the same time, demonstrating grace and consideration that transcended mere rules. I’d like to think he would have done the same for anyone.
