What Is Table 54?

I reside in an independent living retirement community.  Each day is segmented by breakfast, lunch and dinner.  All meals are prepared for the residents and served in the spacious dinning room.  My table seats four people and at lunch and supper I sit with J and E.  J is an educated pharmaceutical professional who can hold a conversation with anyone on any subject.  People in our community seek out his knowledge on prescription drugs.  E is a former paint shop supervisor with GM.  He's quiet and tends to be the table's moral compass.  I am referred to as Y.  I'm the community story-teller and my background is in sales and management. 

In case you're wondering, there is no Table 54 in our dining room.  There are less than 50 tables available for the residents and none of them are named or numbered, nor are any of the seats at a table reserved.  However, most residents tend to sit at the same table for the noon and evening meals.  I've written this off to the fact that older people don't like change.


You might ask, "What kind of conversation goes on at Table 54?"  We subscribe to the theory that no subject is off limits.  On any given day we might discuss politics, religion, food, computers, music, movies, relationships, sex, or any current newsworthy topic of interest.  We talk about our community, discussing ways that life here might be improved.  We also talk about the people who live and work here.  These might include ourselves, residents (past and present), relatives, managers, nursing aides, servers, cleaners or cooks.  All-in-all, conversations are diverse, educated, pointed and above all, opinionated.  They do, however, border on the absurd from time to time.

Being a person of some intellect, you have probably noticed that only three people sit at our table set for four.  You are correct.  There is an empty chair at Table 54.  That space is reserved for YOU.  We hope you will stop by and enlighten us with your opinions on topics being discussed.  Your observations will be commented upon; your questions will be answered and your ideas will be considered and critiqued.  So please, do stop by and join us.

Disclaimer:  The views and opinions expressed in this blog are solely those of the authors and do not in any way represent the views of Holiday Retirement Corporation or Harvest Facility Holdings LP.  It should be quite obvious that Holiday Retirement (their management or any individual connected with them) has not approved, endorsed, embraced or authorized the content of the posts on this blog.

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