Everybody Knows Your Name

Wouldn't you like to get away?

Sometimes you want to go

Where everybody knows your name,

and they're always glad you came.

You wanna be where you can see,

our troubles are all the same

You wanna be where everybody knows

Your name.

- Lyrics from the Cheers theme.

Every morning before work I drop by Panera to get an iced coffee and breakfast.  Jenn is a small young woman with lots of energy that calls out my name when I enter Panera even when I place my order at the kiosk instead of the register.  She knows I'm selling my house and she always asks how is it going and encourages me.  Mark and Brittany prepare my breakfast and as I stand by the counter we discuss the weather and how our weekends went as well as our cats and family.  I commented to them one day coming to Panera early in the morning is like entering the bar Cheers.  Mark laughed and called out "Norm!" even though he is too young to have watched Cheers when it first aired.

I was talking to my sister-in-law Jan about my daily interaction at Panera and my comment to Mark and Brittany about Cheers.  She said the show Cheers was like a great community church.  Everybody loves you despite your idiosyncrasies and faults, is glad to see you, and knows your name.  When I think of all the characters from Cheers, I smile.  Great art and writing including television shows can make us think and bring us together as a community.  The show Cheers reminds us of what is important - each other.   I don't watch reality shows or crime shows because I believe they are superficial and overly dramatic.   Unfortunately they are influencing our perception of what it is to be human.  It is like asking if the chicken comes before the egg.  Are we becoming what we watch or is what we watch reflective of our reality? When does one start and the other stop?  

Intuitively I know what I watch and observe on television and in my everyday life influences my perception of others and therefore, my behavior.   It is wonderful that shows like Cheers, great churches, and people like Jenn, Mark and Brittany can bring us together and remind us of the importance of community where "Everybody knows your name.”