Road Trip

I'm tapping this out in the "business center" of the Courtyard Marriott in Augusta, Ga.

It's an exciting life I lead.

Earlier today, for instance, I dropped into a Chick-fil-A in Birmingham, Ala., for a little lunch. Just before I stepped up to the register to order a No. 1 Combo, my eyes were drawn doward to a laminated newspaper article that was taped to the back of the register.

It was a column by Ken Hoffman, the "nationally syndicated" columnist for The Houston Chronicle. Something about a great new sandwich now being offered by Chick-fil-A, according to the headline (didn't get to read the whole article, but I took a picture of it for proof, which will be posted when I get back to the ranch in B'port.)

The lady taking my order gave me a bit of a funny look as I snapped photos of Hoffy's laminated column. I told her, "I used to know the guy who wrote this."

She replied, "Enjoy your lunch."

(I'm almost certain she didn't slyly press the button underneath the counter to call 911, but didn't tarry to find out.)

Later, back on the highway, I couldn't help but wonder if all the great men of Journalism Past, who paved the way for the Houston Chronicle to become one of the nation's leading newspapers (men like Phil Warner, Tommy Miller, Dick Friedman), would ever in their wildest dreams have imagined that the Chron's first nationally syndicated columnist would be informing the world about the ever-changing world of fast food.

There's bound to be some type of award in this for the newspaper somewhere down the road.