Come join us!

Come join us!

Bob Hatcher

          There is a long narrow table (about 15 feet by 3 feet) at the new restaurant in Clayton called the UNIVERSAL JOINT.  UNIVERSAL JOINT is on North Main Street next door to the Clayton Post Office.  There are 13 seats around this covered table that is outside. You can sit at any of the outside tables and watch the world go by.

          One evening in the middle of August Maggie and I were sitting at one end of the large outdoor table with 3 to 4 other people.  One of them was Peter McIntosh, the superb photographer who also writes movie introductions that Robert Osborne and Ben Mankiewicz read prior to classical movies shown on TCM (Turner Classic Movies). Through his photography he supports numerous charities and conservation groups.

At the other end of the table sat a woman and Peter, saw that she was alone. He called over to her with a friendly voice: “Come join us.” She did and we enjoyed learning about her in the course of the next 2 hours. 

          Little things can mean a lot. This was such a simple, thoughtful thing to do. The kind of thing that is very easy to do, takes almost no time, costs nothing, and may make someone else’s day a whole lot more fun. Thank you, Peter McIntosh! It is so easy to have a generous spirit and our county is made a better place by the generous spirit of Peter McIntosh.

          Come join us! Including someone else at a meal is something middle and high school students can do at a time in their lives when being included is so important, and being excluded is so painful.

          Come join us! Asking someone to participate in a volunteer activity is an easy way to include a new person in town in some worthwhile effort.

Come join us! If you haven’t yet been to the UNIVERSAL JOINT, do try it. The hamburgers, sandwiches, and salads are wonderful. There is a television that keeps you up on the latest football, basketball or baseball game. And if you are lucky you might get Becky or Ruth as your waitress.  They will almost certainly bring a smile to your face.  

Robert A. Hatcher MD, MPH
Professor of Gynecology and Obstetrics
Emory University School of Medicine
Atlanta, Georgia