Amid all the corona controversy, here’s one thing we should universally recognize: If the Chick-Fil-A logistics team ran the testing centers, the entire Chattanooga area could be tested by lunch Monday.
On Friday, we went through a Chick-Fil-A drive-thru that had cars spilling beyond the parking lot and into the road. In seven minutes – with multiple traffic directors, multiple order takers, food runners and cash takers – we were loaded with lunch and back on the road. How smooth?
At the end of the maze of manners and maneuvers, Kyle, the fellow running the condiment tent, was there with ketchup and whatnot. And even masked up, we all know Kyle and his Chick-Fil-A cohorts were smiling, too.
Well done.
Speaking of fast food …
Burger King has pledged to work with scientists to provide the cows used for its burgers a new diet that includes lemongrass. The goal: to reduce global warming, of course.
Say what? Follow along, because no matter how dated your catalytic converter may be, almost 15 percent of greenhouse gases in our environment are cow toots. Seriously. Enter Burger King’s lemongrass diet, which according to initial studies has reduced said cow toots by 33 percent.
But do they help the stench? Asking for a friend.
Obit observation, part I
We’ve missed a few Saturday chats, so our obituary files have overflowed.
We’ll start today with Dr. Charles Foreman Jr., who died on our nation’s birthday. He was 68.
Let’s play the life-achievement bingo game from Dr. Foreman’s amazing obituary last weekend.
> Child performer. Check. He was a child singer for the church choir and frequently sang gospel songs on the radio growing up in Alabama.
> Trend-setter and courageous. Double check. He transferred to Demopolis High School and, as the only Black student in his class, became the first Black graduate of the school in 1969.
> Duty. Uh, triple check. After graduating from the University of Alabama in microbiology, he earned his medical degree on a military scholarship at Meharry Medical College, interned at Walter Reed and worked at forts all over the country, including Fort Sam Houston and Fort Knox.
> Community minded. Absolutely check. Called a pillar of “Chattanooga’s Black community” in his obit, Foreman was active in more clubs than a 20-something at Mardi Gras, and he was active in the annual Hamilton County Minority Health Fair and the HBCU College Fair/5K.
Yeah, that’s a full card. Rest easy, Dr. Foreman.
Obit observation, II
I told you I had a few to get to today.
Two names that crossed the obit pages earlier this summer that many may have missed represented, to me, glorious lives lived with the most noble of aims and lasting legacies.
Linda Harvey and Mary Lou Sherrill left this life without the fanfare of a celebrity or the hubbub of a public figure. In fact, I’m not sure I ever met either, but each was a mother to two of my best friends anywhere, and the grace and spirit Harvey and Sherrill installed, nurtured and fostered in their children are grand accomplishments worth the highest praise and the biggest typeface any headline writer can craft.
Raising caring, trustworthy and quality children is the job of a lifetime and a journey well spent.
Rest easy, Linda and Mary Lou, and for those of us who know Eddie and Chris, thank you.
Contact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com.
Jay Greeson