THE MAYOR OF EINSTEINS

PART FOUR

The Mayor of Einsteins

It's Good to be the Mayor

A Little Nirvana at Crosstown and Shady Oak Road

So that’s the story of Einsteins and its mayor. It is a special place, a gathering place. When I started the Blog, I said that I was looking for little Nirvanas, those special places and the feelings they bring to the surface of consciousness. Yes, you can even find an everyday Nirvana at a bagel shop.

Charles Bukowski’s poem, Nirvana, in my Christmas Observation (copies can be sent via email on request if you didn't get it or lost it) almost captures the feeling of Einsteins. Following is a small excerpt from the poem, but I have changed a few words and the Bukowski poem becomes about Einsteins and me.

“And I sat at the table with the others, and I ordered, the bagel arrived.
And it was particularly good.
And the coffee.

The server was unlike the women I had known.
She was unaffected, and there was a natural humor, which came from her.
And the baker said crazy things.
And the prep person in back laughed a good clean pleasant laugh.

And I watched the snow through the window.
And I wanted to stay there forever.
The curious feeling swam through me that everything was beautiful there.
And it would always stay beautiful there.

And then it was time to leave
And I thought: "I'll just stay here, I'll just stay here."

May we always be looking for the little Nirvanas that surround us every day, and it may surprise you where they are.

THE END

THE MAYOR OF EINSTEINS (continued)

Part Three

The Mayor Of Einsteins!

It's Good to be the Mayor!

A couple of years ago I named myself Mayor of Einsteins. There was no election. I simply assumed the role in a schmearless coup. I have a lot of fun with it. I have a usual seat presiding over my council of friends. I actually think some people would miss me if I were gone. Some people would call me a ”fixture”.

Nobody has ever challenged me to an election. Of course no one actually cares. There is a lady, often referred to as the “Church Lady”, that I believe would like to be the mayor. She only comes in on Sunday after church. She leaves church a little early in order to secure a large table for her political cronies. She gets very frustrated and impatient when there is not a table immediately available that will seat her party. If she spots an empty table, she makes a beeline for the prize. I am afraid if there were a race to capture a table she would body check the interlopers. She then wipes off the table and places napkins and plastic ware at each place and then waits patiently until her friends arrive.

I ask you dear people, is this the kind of busy body you would want as your mayor? She is a woman with cronies, not patrons and would only be in the office one day a week. I think not! Your mayor has a place for all the people, as long as they don’t take HIS TABLE.

A PRESS RELEASE FROM YOUR MAYOR

Samuel C. Arnold

Should any person want to challenge my mayoral position, I asked you to peruse where your mayor stands on the important Einstonian issues.

1. Your mayor does not necessarily support illegal immigration, but certainly supports the workers at Einsteins. Where would our community be without our excellent Mexican bakers, counter people and cashiers in the foodservice industry? We would then have to have American workers who don’t speak English very well either.

2. Your mayor believes that every Einstein patron should have a bathroom that is fully stocked with soap, paper towels, toilet paper and a lock on the door.

3. Your mayor endorses a policy of lavese por favor los manos antes de volver al trabajo de commer su bagel. (Please wash your hands before returning to work or eating your bagel.)

4. Your mayor, for public safety reasons, advocates that little women with big SUVs, backing out of our tight parking spaces with a cell phone in her hand be banned from bageling.

5. Your mayor’s style of governing is participative. When a question comes up that need to be answered and the answer is not close at hand, I delegate the duty of Googling to one of my council members. This has become a burden to some council members because they do not have computers. It is hard to Google without a computer. Some members don’t think it is fair to do all of the Googling work because somebody doesn’t have a computer. There will be a council fight on this matter I’m afraid.

6. We will maintain an open border policy to our neighbors Caribou Coffee and their customers. However, we are watching the number of their customers who buy coffee and goodies at Caribou and then occupy our tables.

Thank You for letting me share my platform with you!

A Bagel In Every Basket!

Samuel C. Arnold

Mayor

TO BE CONTINUED

THE MAYOR OF EINSTEINS! DOS!

PART DOS

The Mayor of Einsteins

It’s Good to be the Mayor!

My Carolina!

One morning about five years ago, as I got in line for my morning coffee and bagel, I noticed a small pretty young Mexican woman efficiently taking orders and cutting and smearing those tasty Einstein’s bagels. I would learn later that this is the way she approaches any task she undertakes. She wore a black Einstein’s tee shirt and bagel ball cap with her black hair strung through the back adjustment band like a horse tail through the back of its blanket. Beneath the low riding baseball cap there was a warm smile and happy, but tired dark eyes.

I passed through the line almost daily, exchanging the usual pleasantries of customer and server. As Carolina and I got to know each other little by little through my morning coffee and bagel routine, I finally asked her name and she said, “Carolina”. I thought it was a beautiful name. It fit her perfectly. I would soon learn that her full name is a bit more complicated than the simple beauty of the name, Carolina. Mexican naming patterns are still a mystery to me.

As I sat across a table with her for the first time, I really noticed her genuine natural beauty at close range. Her skin radiates a smooth flawless complexion, the color of creamed coffee or soft sweet butterscotch. Her features are angular with high cheekbones and a straight nose that reflect the beauty and best of her Mexican heritage. Her teeth are the whitest of white and as straight as any braces could produce. Her smile is warm and perfect. She has a wonderful sense of humor that actually manifests itself at its best when she is talking and laughing with her Mexican girlfriends. She wears little makeup. She does not need makeup to accent the beauty of her classic features.

Carolina is married to Raul. Raul’s features and coloring seem to be a little more Spanish in the spectrum of Mexican native coloring. He is dark fashion model handsome, about six feet tall and thin but not skinny. He has the athletic look of an aging soccer player, which he is. His hairstyle is usually a moving target. Currently it is fairly long and has some flecks of gray reflecting his forty-one years of age. He wears a small earring on his left ear lob for whatever reason young males do that. As a younger man he did some things in his life that were not good. Without Carolina coming into his life, he may have wound up on the dark side of society. His love of Carolina and Carolina’s love for him, along with her strong character and strong beliefs in what she wanted from her life pulled Raul to a path of responsibility.

My relationship with Carolina began to grow when she invited me to celebrate the purchase of a home and her son’s eleventh birthday party. I was flattered that she would include me in this celebration. In fact she really didn't even know my name. When her manager commented that Sam was coming, to her party, she asked, “Who is Sam?

I could have easily made some lame excuse and bowed out, but I did not and gratefully accepted. It was a wonderful party. She told me the party started at 2:00 PM. As is my habit, I arrived promptly at two. This was my first lesson in Mexican culture. A few of her American friends arrived within an hour. The Mexican invitees didn’t start to arrive until after four. This I learned is actually a part of their party culture. There is American time and a Mexican time I stayed the whole day and had a wonderful time. The food would be the first of many meals I have shared with the Reyna family. Carolina is a fantastic cook of the foods and recipes her mother taught her in the south of Mexico. Perhaps even more important she loves to cook for family and friends.

I started giving her a little daily hugs, as I left the Einsteins to begin the rest of my day. I loved the warmth of that small sign of affection. I like hugs. It became part of our near daily routine, much to the amusement of her fellow workers. Carolina was no longer just one of those nameless and nearly invisible people who occupy the service industry. She was now my Carolina. The love I feel for her is a father’s love for a daughter. I feel an inner desire to help and protect her to the extent to which she will allow. In Minnesota she is void of relatives. Someone should look after her interests, and she should have somebody to talk to when needed. That someone is me, and I know she has made me a better person. She, Raul and their children are a purpose in my life.

Carolina and Raul have allowed me to be a grandfather to the kids, Luis, (14) Ricky (8) and Maddie (3). I am a grandfather in every since of the word; trips to McDonalds, Einsteins, the dentist, the doctor, school programs, baseball games, movies, Christmas and birthdays, or just hanging out. I love them so much.

If it had not been for Einsteins, I would have never discovered this joy in my life. It is always amazing how fate or God’s plan or whatever brings two strangers from far different circumstances together as friends for life.

TO BE CONTINUED

THE MAYOR OF EINSTEINS!

Today I am beginning a four part essay on the place I hang out nearly everyday in Minnesota, Einsteins Bagel Shop. It is a great spot to observe and visit daily with special friends. I am presenting it in four parts because of short attention spans.

Part One

The Mayor of Einsteins

It’s good to be the mayor.

At the intersection of the Crosstown Highway and Shady Oak Road stands Einsteins Bagel Shop. It looks pretty much like an ordinary fast food bagel shop both outside and in; polished gray floors, a combination of booths and tables, service counter and coffee station, but it is the warmth of the people, both customers and workers, that make it a special place - a gathering place.

I had always envied my parents. They had such a place. I don’t remember the name of the restaurant, but my brothers and I called it the Cholesterol Café, because the food was strictly greasy Midwestern breakfast fare. The folks gathered with their friends and just enjoyed each other’s company. Much of the male conversation was year around discussion of the Marion Giants. I don’t know what the women talked about, but I imagine it was grandkids and how difficult it is to live with a retired male.

Einstein is a type of place that I had hoped to find someday, a place to read the paper, have some coffee and meet my friends. A place where virtually no subject is off limits to good friends; politics, sports, old times, good times, bad times, kids, grandkids, wives, mothers, dads, weather, maladies, medications or whatever. If question comes up that we don’t know the answer we assign someone to look it up and report back. Example: Origin of the phrase “eating crow” was assigned just recently. Really important stuff. At Einsteins you can learn really important stuff.

I have met so many people that have become really good friends. Husbands and wives, newborns to preschoolers and their mothers, and the regular working stiffs that have a coffee and conversation before they head off to work. Einsteins has become a place to meet for job interviews and business meetings. Salesmen hide out there with their computers and cell phones. Their computers hook up to the WiFi and business is done in cyber space. Einsteins doesn’t have its own WiFi, we steal it from the Caribou Coffee place next door.

The influence of Einstein’s people stretches to all parts of the country and the world. While making a stop in Roswell, New Mexico on my trip across the country, I saw a young woman in the breakfast room that had an Ecolab logo on her shirt. I told her I knew Ecolab because I lived in Minneapolis and was in the foodservice industry. I casually asked if she by chance knew one of my friends from Einsteins who worked for Ecolab. She not only knew him and his wife, but she had worked with him. The world of Einsteins is everywhere. You must be careful, there may been an Einstonion lurking and observing at any time anywhere.

It is truly a place where everyone knows your name. “SAM!”

To Be Continued

I'M TIRED ALREADY!

Observation of the Day!

January 27, 2008

As a long time Republican, I have always supported the Republican Party because they more fit my beliefs. I am pretty much a right leaning middle-of- the-roader. I hate both extremes of the political spectrum.

I have always been a McCain guy because he is a straight talking dude who can reach across the aisle. The partisan bickering is out of hand and nothing is getting done. The Congress would rather witch-hunt the opposite party and get face time on television about things nobody cares about than address the real issues facing the country.

I am looking very hard at Obama. I think we need a fresh face with fresh ideas. I believe he will surround himself with good people from both parties. No matter who is elected, it will be the Congress who will get nothing new done. Can anybody say “self-serving gutless wonders”? If it comes down to Obama vs McCain, it will be a hard decision for me.

I personally think that the candidate who doesn't go negative and maintains a higher road will garner votes. The American people are tired of half-truths and out right lies in negative ads. I really admire the TV stations that are now starting to analyze these ads, researching and reporting the FACTS; truth, half-truths and lies.

I am contemplating an anti-incumbent vote, but that is a little scary because I may have to vote for a far leftist in Minnesota.

Peggy Noonan hit it pretty much on the head about the current state of the Republican Party in an editorial in the Wall Street Journal.

"On the pundit civil wars, Rush Limbaugh declared on the radio this week, "I'm here to tell you, if either of these two guys [Mr. McCain or Mike Huckabee] get the nomination, it's going to destroy the Republican Party. It's going to change it forever, be the end of it!"

This is absurd. George W. Bush destroyed the Republican Party, by which I mean he sundered it, broke its constituent pieces apart and set them against each other. He did this on spending, the size of government, war, the ability to prosecute war, immigration and other issues.

Were there other causes? Yes, of course. But there was an immediate and essential cause.

And this needs saying, because if you don't know what broke the elephant you can't put it together again. The party cannot re-find itself if it can't trace back the moment at which it became lost. It cannot heal an illness whose origin is kept obscure."

It is a long political season and just like Bill, I'm tired too!.

Have a nice day!

Sam

View From Nirvana

With the temperature below zero in many parts of the country I thought I would post another view from Nirvana. The Coronado Bridge, The Coronado Golf Course and Glorietta Bay.

Click picture to enlarge!

I spend a lot of time at the golf course and am running for one of the councilman spots of the bar and grill. The competition is tough because there are a lot of competitors hanging around the bar.

Have a nice day!

Sam

SONG OF THE WEEK!

ROY ORBISON: A BLACK AND WHITE NIGHT! WHITE NIGHT!

I hope you all have external speakers or better yet earpieces to hear these little features. It adds so much to the quality.

My Song of the Week features one of my favorite songs, by one of my favorite artists with a band of great musicians from my favorite concert, Roy Orbison and Friends A Black and White Night. I imagine many of you have seen this on the PBS fund drives in which the interruptions drive you crazy. The show was taped at the Coconut Grove in Los Angeles in 1987 with a live audience of Roy’s friends and fans.

The backing band was the TCB Band, which accompanied Elvis Presley from 1969 until his death in 1977: Friends in the band included Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, Jackson Browne, J.D. Souther, Steven Soles and James Burton. The back up singers featured k.d. lang, Jennifer Warnes, and Bonnie Raitt. Could it get any better than that?

Pretty Woman features one of the greatest guitar riffs of all time, especially the Springsteen-Burton guitar solo.

Roy Orbison died at age of fifty-two of a heart attack. He was loved by his fellow musicians and fans alike. He was a musician’s musician.

Listen and enjoy and have a nice day!

Sam