Graduations and Get-Togethers

Spring is turning into summer here in northeastern Iowa. It probably does this in other parts of the world as well, but for now we’re focused on Cresco, where school will be getting out for the summer, which can mean only one thing—open houses.

Open houses are wonderful things, for those unfamiliar with them. It’s a great excuse to get out and meet people, and also you’re getting a copious amount of free food. I can remember my high school graduation open house where, even after lots of family and friends visited we had enough food left over to feed our family of six for at least two or three dinners, since when you have four teenage boys food lasts about as long as a snowflake in Saudi Arabia.

When you go to an open house in a small town, there are two things that are unavoidable. First, you are going to know several people there. Second, you’re going to find out that some people know each other in oddly unexpected ways. This was how, for instance, I found out that two coworkers who had almost nothing to do with each other in the workplace knew each other because one coworker’s brother was the manager at the local bank where the other coworker did most of his banking. On any other day you would assume that the two coworkers had a passing familiarity with each other, but then you get the one coworker’s brother in the mix and the dynamic totally changes. It’s a type of alchemical reaction you rarely see anymore, since in larger towns and cities social groups are more separated.

An open house in a small town is also an interesting way to gauge closeness to someone you know. Let’s say, for instance, Coworker A puts out an open invitation to an open house in your town. Coworker B, who lives in the town 20 miles away, also puts out an open invitation. You can safely go to Coworker A’s open house as an invited guest—you live in the town, you’ll probably know some folks and you won’t feel completely weird about it. With Coworker B, though, you have to be a bit more thoughtful. The town 20 miles away has its own society, and the people there have their own relationships. If you go there, who exactly will you be talking to? Sure, it’s nice to chat with people about what their town is like, but you’re also an outsider at an event where family and friends want to get together to chat and reminisce a bit. If you’re like me and hate reminiscing, you’re going to think twice about showing up for anything other than the much-vaunted “token appearance,” where you stop by, say hi and have a plate of food before disappearing. In a lot of ways, having a plateful of food is actually doing the host of the open house a favor, although not technically approved by Miss Manners.

Perhaps it’s just the season, but I’ve also started seeing several notices for get-togethers and benefit dinners. One person was burned in a factory accident. Another person is suffering from Lou Gehrig’s disease. It’s hard to come up with anything funny to say about that, and even if I could I’d have to accept the fact that I’d be a pretty terrible person to make a joke about people getting together to help a friend out. Also—it’s just admirable. Both in how the community comes together and the extent of these benefit dinners. For about five to ten dollars, you can not only get a large dinner, but there’s also a dance or a concert. On at least one occasion, the band performing was a quasi-professional country band! I feel secure in saying Cresco takes their benefit dinners seriously.