Maria and I spent a lot of time at the Round House Cafe, we don’t have kids living with us, and it is great to have a great eating place a couple of minutes away, we often talk ourselves into going there for breakfast or lunch. Scott Carrino says we are among his best customers, it is part of our community, and there is much community within the Round House. Today, Heather (left) asked me if I would take a photo of the weekend crew, it is about to change.

Gabe, in the center, is leaving weekend work because of his wrestling team schedule, which starts this week. These hard-working and incredibly nice people care for one another, it is nice to be around them and share their good spirit. I was happy to be asked to take a photo, and then I liked the feeling of it so much I thought I share share it. People always say they rarely see  young people who are courteous and hard-working, but I do not believe young people are less worthy or industrious than my generation or any others.

One of the sins of Old Fartism is to believe everything in the past was better than everything that exists. Young people seem quite bright to me, and interesting, they live in a new and different kind of world, the ones I know work very hard, are smarter than the kids I remember growing up with and seem quite decent and courteous. It’s a generalization, I’m sure the qualities of young people vary just as much as those of people my age – I know a lot of unlikeable and brain-dead older people.

When somebody says, as they invariably do, “how refreshing to see a young person work so hard,” I wince. It is not an unusual thing for me to see in my life. The Round  House reminds me of the power of community and connection, it is what we all wish for and need.