FAUQUIER SPRINGS and CHEERS

How many of you remember the TV show Cheers? It was on TV for 11 years (1982-1993), I never thought of it at the time, but this show with all of the laughs had an outstanding premises behind it.  Take a look at some of the words to the theme song. 

Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got. Taking a break from all your worries sure would help a lot. Wouldn't you like to get away? Sometimes you want to go Where everybody knows your name, and they're always glad you came. You wanna be where you can see, 
our troubles are all the same You wanna be where everybody knows Your name. 

Each year at this time I celebrate the day that I found my version of Cheers.  I remember like yesterday going to a public golf course and spending almost 7 hours standing around waiting to just get through the round.  I also remember that I was about to give up golf because I just couldn’t devote that much time to it, when one of my wife’s friends introduced me to her husband who was also a golfer.  After a couple of conversations with John, he told me about Fauquier Springs Country Club and said that I should consider membership.  Although I had a really good job at the time, I just kept thinking, how’s a poor kid from Jersey going to fit in with a bunch of folks at a Country Club? Despite my reservations, I decided to at go to the club with John and see what it was like. 

Now you have to understand my friend John, also grew up relatively poor, but in West Virginia, so the first thing that he told me was that I would probably run into a couple of 5 dollar millionaires, but that I should just ignore those folks as most of the people would be more than welcoming.  Our outing was great; we finished in less than 5 hours, had a couple of beers and chatted for a while.  John introduced me to the club manager who gave me a tour of the facilities, and offered me a membership packet on the spot.  I couldn’t wait to get home and tell my wife what a great experience I had (and get her approval to join the club).

On May 1, 1996 I became a member of Fauquier Springs Country Club (FSCC), and have been there now for 15 great years.  A few days after I joined, I was out playing 9 holes by myself; as I hit my tee shot on the second hole,  I heard someone coming down the 16^th fairway yelling “hey, haven’t seen you before, are you

 new”? When I replied yes, he and his female playing partner (I think it was his wife) came all the way down to the tee box to introduce themselves and welcome me to the club.  I knew at that moment I had made the right choice when I joined FSCC. 

For myself and many of my friends (most of whom are members at FSCC), this is our Cheers.  It’s where everyone truly knows our names, it’s where we go to let our hair down, enjoy an adult beverage, a good cigar and the company of the people that we know best.  If you’re a golfer, you can find a game every day of the week.  Let’s see, there are groups that play on Tuesday, Wednesday, seniors on Thursday, there’s a Friday group, and of course the Saturday and Sunday groups.  When I say groups, I’m not talking about a couple of foursomes, we have over 85 people on the list for all of these groups, and on most Saturdays and Sundays in the summer, it’s not uncommon to have as many as 40 or more players show up. 

In addition to golf, FSCC has an Olympic sized swimming pool, tennis courts and a recently added volleyball pit.  If you’re trying to teach your children the game of golf, there is an excellent Juniors program at the club that seems to expand every year.  The staff is excellent, from Pro Shop to the Grille Room, the people are always friendly and helpful, the beer is always cold and if like me you prefer the hard stuff, you can always get a good stiff pour.

Now “I’m Just Sayin”, there are clubs with bigger golf courses, more amenities, fancier club houses, or higher paid staff, but after 15 years and so many friendships, none of those places could ever be Cheers! It’s always nice to go where “Everybody knows your name, and their always glad you came”.  So here’s to you FSCC, “Cheers” 

I'm Just Sayin - STOP KICKING THE LITTLES

No, this article isn’t about kicking folks who happen to be small in stature, midgets and such, but rather what I call the little (Little’s) people that many of us come into contact with on a daily basis.  So, who are these little people you ask?  They are the waiter/waitress at the restaurants we attend, their the folks who park your car, clean your house, take care of the lawn, check out and bag our groceries, and so many others who perform the task that most of us are so very fortunate we don’t have to do for ourselves.  

I’m writing this article because of a horrible experience that a very nice young waitress at a restaurant  I frequent several times a month had last week, but it could have been any one of the people described above.    Now I’m not going to name any names, because the people responsible for reducing that young lady to tears know exactly who they are, and they should be ashamed of themselves, especially because this was a charity event.  The restaurant had what most would consider a record crowd attend the event, thus the service was a little slow in some cases, especially considering there were some guest cooks and servers working the event, supported by restaurant staff.   Now you would think that if one decides to attend such an event, they would have a little patience, relax and try to enjoy the event, but not these people!  You see these folks are too important (in their minds) to wait or be patient, and besides, if the food is coming out slow, it has to be the fault of the server, right?

I work in a business where customers are sometimes extremely rude and mean spirited when dealing with my staff, however once I pick up the phone all of a sudden their tone changes and their as nice as pie.  The reason they turn nice is that the big shot, big mouth mean aholes who yell at my staff know better than to yell and be rude to me, much like those folks in that restaurant.  They didn’t call the manager over and berate her, not a chance; they picked on the waitress because she couldn’t talk back.  You see these type know better than to pick a fight with someone their own size, their like the school yard bully, they pick on those who dare not defend themselves for fear of losing their minimum wage job.  They see the little people as their verbal punching bags, to be verbally abused at their pleasure. 

For as long as I can remember, I’ve a problem with folks who treat what I call the little’s with disrespect, mostly because there really isn’t any reason for such behavior and because I used to be one of the little’s.   Just because you have money, power or position, is absolutely no reason to treat those who you might think are beneath you badly.  My parents taught me that the higher up the ladder you climb, the harder the fall, and to be careful who you step on going up because that may be the person who has to catch you should you fall.

 

Now I’m Just Sayin, let’s all make an effort to show some respect for everyone that we come into contact with, regardless of their position in life.  Perhaps we should work harder to be nice to the little’s if for no other reason because they do so much for us that most of us really don’t want to do for ourselves.  Ask yourself, would you want to be a server, cook, or dishwasher? I didn’t think so, so why not try to show a little appreciation for the little’s, after all, it’s easy to be appreciative and nice to those in positions of power, the true big shots treat everyone with respect.