We Are Not Alone
摘要
This chapter takes readers back to Pete’s Restaurant. We can consider Pete’s as yet another anchor organization that draws people in so they can enjoy food, companionship, and engage in dialogue about the news or politics of the day. Pete’s embodies critical values, ones that can be easily compromised. Yet, Pete protects those values. He is welcoming. Kind. Compassionate. Readers will see these values in action within the restaurant. John comes back to the restaurant, this time alone, looking for Molly. Pete welcomes him and offers a diatribe about the purpose of Fifth Street and the community it stewards. Angela and Suzy corner John to ask for his involvement as a member of a team reaching out to another teen who needs assistance and support. John has already come up with the idea of taking a sabbatical from his business so he can learn in the spirit of Charley Hanson. There is a turning point in this chapter when John comes to understand how to offer solutions to people who need assistance, oftentimes assistance that emerges from innovative thinking. For John, the practices Charley introduced him to are now well rooted in his mind and heart. There is a transformation readers will witness in this chapter—John is becoming engaged as he breaks out of his traditional ways of thinking and taking action.