No Free Meals

Anybody that’s read this blog for any length of time knows how much I relish the opportunity to hang out with the political masters of Worcester.  It’s really a self-preservation tactic as I worry about the impact of too much truth injected into their lives, usually at inconvenient times.  You can all imagine how much I was looking forward to attending a Worcester Chamber of Commerce breakfast yesterday.

My excellent boss told me there was no way to avoid attendance since our organization was being honored and our political boss wanted to single us out for praise.  My excellent boss knows how much I hate these type things and looked at me with pity, liked he’d just kicked his favorite dog (wait – poor allusion there).

The Breakfast Site - Sharks Skating on the Right

Against all odds it turned out to be an incredibly entertaining, if cold, event.  I might even venture to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it.  It was cold because the breakfast was set up in the DCU Center, Worcester’s indoor sports/convention center ice rink.  The Worcester Sharks, the minor league affiliate of the NHL San Jose team were taking their morning skate in the other half of the ice as we made our way in.  We were eating on a floor placed over the ice and after fifteen minutes everyone was experiencing minor ankle failure as the cold seeped upwards.

The food was awesome and plentiful.  A portly man with a bran muffin looked aghast as I piled my plate high with bacon, sausages, eggs and cheese.   He jovially told me he hated guys like me who could eat anything and never get fat – obviously a battle he’d lost (in dramatic fashion).  I told him that wasn’t the case and that the cruelest thing was I’m on a diet and got to eat this.  I wished him a Merry Christmas and hoped he enjoyed his muffin.  He took it pretty well (I’m probably going to get audited).

Former Lieutenant Governor Speaking

The program was well run and very snappy as everything had to be done quickly to get people out to their jobs.  Instead of being the stuffy, overbearing atmosphere I anticipated there were a lot of jokes and good natured jabs between the gathered business leaders of Worcester.  Could it be, they are human after all?


The Key Note Speaker

The key note speaker was a member of the family that owns Polar Beverages, one of the biggest employers in Worcester and he was absolutely hilarious.  He poked fun at himself and his company which started out selling whiskey door to door a few generations ago.  He mentioned a rich uncle who tried to take over the company, showing a picture of the 75 year old uncle with his 25 year old wife.  He said his uncle stood 6’6” when he stood on his wallet.  He also talked about lawsuits with Coca Cola he wasn’t supposed to speak about and then proceeded to do just that.  He was too funny.

The Start of Polar Beverages

My complimentary consumption activities were not finished for the day either.  After spending the whole day glued to my new best friend the program Excel -(finished off spread sheet #42 at 5:30pm) I was summoned for another meal by my excellent boss, who said we had to go out to dinner with the visiting leadership from the electric bus company and our political bosses. 

We ate at O’Conner’s, an Irish restraint in nearby West Boylston.  The place was absolutely packed which is a good indicator of how good the food is.  I don’t get there very often because it’s on the other side of Worcester from where I live.  We were shown to our tables (after a suitable and extremely enjoyable sojourn at the well run bar) by the owner who wore the name tag, “himself”; very Irish.  I have to credit the electric bus company because they knew we weren’t happy with their first few buses and they came up to face the music.  They started some wheels moving immediately to address their product’s shortfalls.  It turned out to be a fun time and free which always makes the food taste a little better.

My mother always said there were no “free lunches” but both of yesterday’s events came pretty close.  There was a small price to pay when I got home to a solitary wife who raised an eyebrow or two at my bachelor meanderings of the day.  She’s always encouraged me to be more sociable with the political masters so I had that going for me.  She also reported Buddy was nearly frantic when I didn’t show up at my normal time. 

I think that damned dog has been watching too many cat commercials because he tried to climb onto my shoulders when he saw me.  The scratches should heal before Christmas.

 

A couple weeks ago I wrote about the dramatic renovation of Worcester's Union Station a couple decades ago.  I found some pictures that showed what it looked like before the renovation which were pretty incredible.

 

What it Looked Like - Open to the Elements

 

Photo Taken From Virtually the Same Spot at the Dinner I attended a Few Weeks Ago