I remember the one time that my grandpa took my brother and me out for lunch. He picked us up in his humongous decked-out showroom-perfect Pontiac. Our apprehensions about a drawn-out lunch in a stuffy restaurant were eased when he asked rhetorically if we would like to go to McDonald’s.
And for years we thought that he hated McDonald’s!
Upon returning home I told my mom some incredible news – we found out that Grandpa’s favorite place to eat is McDonald’s! My Mom broke the news to me that he took us to McDonald’s because he knew that we like to eat there.
Not fully grasping what she was saying she then dropped the bombshell – Grandpa hates McDonald’s.
You mean he suffered through a miserable meal just for us?
Well come to think of it he did not order any food for himself. He just sipped on his coffee as he sat back and enjoyed us enjoying ourselves. Now that I think of it, he wasn’t even drinking McDonald’s coffee. The cup was the top of the thermos he brought in with him.
So why didn’t he take us to some place that he liked or just give us some McDonald’s gift certificates?
It dawned on me that it did not matter where we went. It was not about McDonald’s or even the meal for that matter. His pleasure was seeing his two grandsons’ enjoying themselves unencumbered by anyone else. He made the best of the situation by doing what he enjoyed – sipping familiar coffee, relaxing, and smoking a cigar on the way home in his decked-out Pontiac.
The pleasure was all ours; and all his too.