ACROSS MISSOURI TO VISIT
MOM IN ST. LOUIS

roofers in Columbia, Missouri

     My next appointment was in Columbia, Missouri, half way across the state. But before getting back on trusty I-70 — coffee. And while on that subject, before presenting you with one of my favorite "genre photos", let me say a few words about my exposure, while traveling, to several technological innovations that haven't reached my insular home world yet.

"BETTER LIVING" THROUGH TECHNOLOGY

     On a trip across the country, one never knows when he's going to run into these innovations. They usually present in a particular way: some display in a store or public place, doesn't look right. I can't find all the accoutrements to deal with whatever the item or situation is, in the way I'm used to. My hands are quivering with energy, but they don't know were to go.

The most elaborate coffee self-service area I've ever seen — the QT gas/convenience stores. This one's in Kansas City.

     I found several of the new features in the innumerable coffee services I used at gas stations and convenience stores. In one place, the usual compartments holding packs of sugar, sweetener, and half-and-half were missing. I had to ask, and was directed to a machine that dispensed all the creamers (real and articicial) and all the sweeteners (ditto)!
      Such innovations will hardly keep us ahead of the Europeans or the Shanghaians, in the world quest for the most up-to-date society. But I guess the retail coffee game is a cutthoat operation, and a new gizmo may boost someone's market share a few points.

Who knows which of these will win out in the techno-coffee wars?

     Another "new technology" I encountered is the automatic toilet seat cover-replacer in use at O'Hare Airport in Chicago. Entering a stall, I noticed a paper seat-cover already on the seat. At first I thought someone had simply left it there. The word "yucchhhhh" went through my mind, but it wouldn't be a really big deal to remove it.
      Then I saw a sign that said "put your hand under the sensor and the toilet seat cover will automatically replace itself". I did. "Whooosh!" There was a sound and a lot of commotion, like one of those shirt-folding machines that cartoon characters inevitably get caught in.
     When the commotion ended, the old seat cover had been shunted down a hole and a new one had appeared and neatly wrapped itself around the seat. I was impressed. I thought, "I have to tell Barbara about this." I mean, I don't even use those things, myself.
     

     I had lunch with my friend Marie here at Ernie's Cafe' in the lovely university town of Columbia. Yes, that DON'T WORRY BE HAPPY poster, with the photo of Meher Baba, is on the wall of Ernie's. That was why Marie took me there.
      Here's the story: Marie had gone there with our friend, Janice Rieman, and with Janice's aunt once. There is a mirror at Ernie's that's covered with graffiti writings. Someone had scrawled "Don't worry, be happy!" on it, and Janice had mentioned that years ago when she, Janice, had lived in Columbia, a poster of Meher Baba had graced a wall at Ernie's.
     Before long Marie had dropped a poster off, with a note for the owner, telling the story and saying, "Here's one of those posters for you, put it up if you want to — or just keep it." Marie went back to the restaurant a couple weeks later and felt disappointed. Nothing new had gone up on the walls.
     A year or so later, though, someone said to her, "Hey, did you know there's a Meher Baba poster on the wall at Ernie's?" My wife Barbara, hearing that tale, succincly summarized the moral, which I hadn't gotten quite as neatly: we never know how or when the results of our actions will manifest.

     I reached St. Louis uneventfully. Had dinner with mom, stayed at the beautiful condo my family owns in the Central West End of the city, and very early on Thursday, June 29, drove across the Mississippi and followed the I-55 signs.

Or, go back to KC and cool your heels!
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