You gotta live what you preach. An older man comes and sits with me at Arby's.

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I'm on my way home from Montana. One of my joys on the road from Montana is Arby's. At an Arby's in Nevada, I order a roast beef sandwich. About halfway through my sandwich, an older man moves from his table to mine. He says, "St. Jude's is a good institution. I have donated to them." We are both watching FOX News. I say, "They seem like the real deal to me. I have considered donating to them." We talk for about ten minutes. He tells me where he has lived, and where he lives now. He has a difficult time understading what I say. But he makes it clear that he bought a house in 1951 in Antioch CA for about $10,000, with his wife, and sold it a couple of years later for $14,000. I tell him that my parents sold a house in the Berkeley hills for about $40,000 in 1966. Finally, I tell him that I have to "hit the road" and we shake hands. He says, "See you here another time." I do the math and realize that he is older than my father would be if he were alive. I think about older folks as I head West. Here is my version of John Prine's "Hello in There." We'll all be there soon.