How shall I put it?  O.K., for starters, LIFE IS GOOD!  I drove up to Yuba City for the fiftieth reunion of the Yuba City High School class of 1963.  No, I didn't graduate from high school in 1963.  My year was 1953, and the school was Live Oak High School, nine miles up the road from Yuba City.  At Yuba City High School I was an English teacher in 1963.

Let me explain why I'm certain life is good.  Yuba City is 550 miles from where I live in San Diego.  I found myself with an hour to kill before the reunion began, so I relaxed at a McDonald's over a "senior" coffee (seventy cents), and I used the time to check my email, taking advantage of McCafe's free Internet connection.  The young man wearing McDonald's familiar black uniform who was sweeping the floor, said "hello" and "excuse me" when he swept in my area.  I had noticed that he did the same thing when he swept near an "older" couple at a table on the other side of the dining area.  I couldn't hear all of the conversation, but I could see and faintly hear the woman asking him for directions;  I caught enough to know he was being asked directions to the ballroom where I was going for the reunion. The young man gave directions carefully; then smiling broadly, he stepped back to where I was sitting, pointed to my tie, and said, "I bet you're going to a reunion."  I smiled and nodded yes.  He asked brightly with real enthusiasm if I knew "those people."  He motioned me up saying, "They're going, too." Marilyn hadn't been one of my students; extending her hand she said, "You're Mr. Miles..." and after a little friendly talk, she and her husband left.

The young man looked at me and said,  "She called you Mr. Miles." I told him I had been a teacher at the school in 1963.  I extended my hand to him and looking at his name tag, I said,  "My name is Jerral Miles."

Taking my hand and pointing to his name tag, he said, "I'm Anthony..." and added, "Anthony Martinez." He saw my iPad and asked, "Have you got the new operating system?"  I told him I didn't have it.  He said, "It's great.  Go to settings," and he walked me through the process. I asked him where he goes to school.  When I learned he a senior, I asked where he plans to go to college... not if he plans to go to college.  He noticed the difference and told me most people ask if not where.  I told him that as an "old teacher," I can tell a winner when I see one, and that I can see he is clearly somebody who will do very well in college.  We talked a bit more, ending with my giving him my e-mail address and offering that I'll be pleased to write a letter of recommendation for him to include in his college applications.  Taking the card, he thanked me and went away to exchange his broom for a mop and bucket.  As I was leaving, I said, "Let me know when you need that letter."  He said he would.

Anthony Martinez added, "Have a good time at the reunion."

I didn't tell him, but I'm going to write another letter... one to the manager of the McDonald's on Colusa Highway in Yuba City.  I'll bet the boss knows already that Anthony Martinez is one heck of an employee, but just in case he hasn't noticed...