Virtual Lunch
Let's have lunch. It's lunchtime somewhere.
Back in the Before Times, friends would ring me up and say
"Can I take you to lunch — my treat — and we only talk about me? I want to hear your take on some things."
That was fun and delightful. These days I've moved my life mostly outdoors and online, which turns out to work just fine for this. We can be in different time zones. Isn't the internet wonderful?
Here's how the menu works.
If we went to the locally owned Mike's Drive In, you might order the chicken basket. I'll get a burger with sweet potato waffle fries. The check at the register is $35.
Want something a little nicer? A sit-down-with-a-server place? I recommend Oregon City's own Highland Stillhouse, a fine Scottish establishment. We each start with a cup of homemade soup. I love the half order of gluten free fish and chips. You might choose a corned beef pastie with sauerkraut. For dessert, we split an order of fruit crisp with ice cream over coffee. Total plus tip is $80.
You pick the place. Book your time and pay when you schedule.
Before we meet, hit reply on your confirmation email if there's something you'd like me to look at in advance — a document, an outline, whatever. Assume I'll spend about half an hour with it. Fair warning: I may tunnel into it like a burrowing animal, or I may come to our conversation fresh. I can't always predict which, and I'm not promising either.
We meet, we talk. The focus is entirely on you. People bring me philosophical questions, sticky conflicts, training outlines that want a second look, decisions they've been circling. Sometimes someone just needs a person not embedded in their daily life to listen closely and ask innocent questions. I'm good at that.
At your request I can record our time and send you a summary with any notes we took together. If you decide you'd like more support from me after we meet, we can talk about that separately. No commitment beyond this conversation. Easy peasy.
Just good conversation, my honest perspective, and whatever clarity we can find together in an hour.