WHO IS SHE?

 WHO IS SHE? 

By Duncan 

An acquaintance of mine, who shall remain nameless, was driving from his winter home to his summer home and stopped in Indianapolis for the night. I don’t know him all that well, except I know his name, and we would occasionally say hi to one another in the clubhouse bar.  

He’s an older man, set in his ways. But aren’t we all a little that way when we reach a certain age? The older we get, the more we want things our way. He has a full head of hair and is slightly overweight, but not crazy overweight. I assume he is “well healed” because his travels never cause him any financial distress. He owns two homes, one “up north” and the other home in a gated community south.  

We haven't talked, emailed, or texted in a while, so I was surprised when he phoned me. 

“Duncan, I was driving through Indianapolis and stopped at one of your fancy Italian restaurants. I was having dinner in this older restaurant.” 

His sarcasm was not about the restaurant. The old building where the restaurant was providing service set him off. 

I asked him the name of the building. He didn’t know. I asked him the name of the restaurant. He stumbled crudely over the name; I didn’t recognize it. 

“It’s Italian.” He said. 

I didn’t push him on his weak pronunciation of the Italian restaurant.  

It was as if Indianapolis only had one Italian restaurant in the city. I felt he was trying to tell me how his pick of an Italian restaurant was being managed. And I also assume there were things he didn’t care for about the place. But I didn’t pry.  

“You know how these fancy Italian restaurants can put on the dog trying to sound and look trendy. When all they have to do is serve a plate of hot spaghetti with spicy tomato sauce and a bottle of Chianti.” 

“What may I ask, what are you doing in Indianapolis?” 

“Oh, we’re on our way home. I was tired of driving and decided to pull over for the night. And here we are. Wherever we are.”

“Can I assume you are heading north instead of south?” 

“Oh, yes, we spend the summer at the farm, and our winters, well, you know where we live.”  

“Yes, well, welcome to Indianapolis. Are you staying long?”    

“No, no, just the night; we should be at the farm by tomorrow.” 

“How nice that you thought of calling. Do you need anything?” 

“By the way, could I ask you a question?” 

“Sure, go ahead.” 

“A thin young woman entered the restaurant as we were served our meal. There was a stir about her with the other people in the restaurant. People were looking and whispering about her. I asked the waiter what all the commotion was about? He said Caitlin Clark came in to have dinner. I asked, Who is she? The waiter gave me a funny look and walked away.” 

“Who is Caitlin Clark? You’ve never heard her name before? 

“No.” 

Are you aware of the WNBA?”

“The WBA, no, what’s that?” 

“Well, no, not the WBA it’s called the WNBA. For example, the NBA is short for the National Basketball Association, but the W stands for women. There is a professional basketball league in the United States for women. It’s called the Women's National Basketball Association—the WNBA. We, here in Indiana, have a women’s basketball team. It’s called the Indiana Fever. Caitlin Clark is considered a star.” 

“I took a picture of her with my cell phone. I can’t imagine what the fuss is about her.”

“Well, let me put it in terms perhaps you can understand. You know the old saying … “Follow the Money?” 

“Yeah, sure. Is she rich?” 

( I wanted to add “Mr. Gotrocks” to my “Follow the Money” comment, but I didn’t.) 

The Indiana Fever pays her about seventy-five thousand dollars annually to play women’s basketball. 

“Chicken feed! That doesn’t make her a star?” 

Now, wait a minute; there is more to the story. Nike (The Sports shoe company) has signed a deal with her for twenty-eight million dollars for the next eight years.”  

“That thin little girl? Twenty-Eight Million Dollars?”

“Did you say you got a picture of her? Can you send it to me?”

“Yeah, but it’s not very good. Are you sure she is being paid twenty-eight million?” 

“That’s what the press is reporting here in Indy.” 

“Hell, wait till I tell Heidi.” 

Also, today, I drove from my home in Fishers, Indiana, on the northeast side of Indianapolis, to the southwest side of Indianapolis, to a small town called Mooresville, Indiana. 

It took me an hour and ten minutes. Gray’s Cafeteria is considered an iconic place for many to eat. The word “iconic” is a bit of a stretch, but it’s a good place to have lunch. It’s been there many times.  

They started their little restaurant in 1944, and it has passed through about three generations of the Gray Brothers' hands. It’s very well known, and the food is considered good to great, depending on who you talk with. Gray Brother’s Cafeteria is a cafeteria-style restaurant. Now, keep in mind that you have to like cafeteria-style dining. 

I’m not keen on the cafeteria style, but that’s how life is. I go there anyway. I bend my mind, almost pull a groin muscle, and accept the obvious. Yes, I realize that was a bit of an exaggeration. 

Hurricane Beryl is starting to make its way up the United States, and Indiana is on its path. We are expected to get a lot of rain. It started today.

Anyway, I got to Grays Cafeteria about fifteen minutes late. I ran through the line: Well, ran, run; neither is accurate. The woman in front of me was ordering takeout for three. When she got to the register, she had three different charge cards to process for the food. I looked behind me at the line. It was not all that long. The older women in line were straining their necks, trying to decide if I was the reason the line wasn’t moving.  

I picked up a small piece of strawberry pie, a chicken breast, a wing, mashed potatoes, brown gravy, and a glass of water. $20.47   

When you go through a cafeteria line, the salads are first, followed by the desserts, the meat presentations, the vegetables, and the drinks. I don’t want to sound negative, but I will recount my thoughts as I went through the line. 

I passed by the salads. I wasn’t in the mood for a salad. 

I wasn’t going to get a piece of pie, but sitting there looking at me with a happy face were lemon, strawberry, and chocolate pies. I looked at the offerings and noticed no whipped cream on the strawberry pies. 

None of the pies had whipped cream. I also felt like Gray Brother was practicing a little shrinkage on the pie size, but maybe I was wrong. It seemed smaller than the last time I was in the place. It’s happening in the grocery stores, keeping the cost the same as always but offering less for the same money. 

I decided to buy the pie, not knowing how much it would cost until I got to the register. ($5.50) Ouch. Yes, I will admit, when I looked at the bill, I thought, “Ouch.” They sure are proud of their strawberry pie without whipped cream.

I came to Gray’s for the Fried Chicken and Mashed Potatoes. I didn’t care what the chicken and spuds cost—I wanted them. I told the gal behind the counter to “slather” some brown gravy on “them there” mashed potatoes. I expected her to smile, maybe give me a wink, but much like a robot, she put two scoops of gravy on the potatoes, placed the plate on the counter, and moved away. What was I expecting? I guess I was expecting a little interaction with the server. 

Of course, management doesn’t want interaction. They have learned to get the “cattle” through the line quickly. Even the cashier was robotic—no emotion, no interaction with me, the customer. Is that a criticism? Not after seeing the old woman behind me in line; she had a face that could stop a clock and was all about moving the line.

DONNA AVERET WISEHART - BETTE WECHSLER - JUDY BRITTIN ONG - RUSS METZLER 

STEVE WINEGARDNER - JOHN KISSLING - MARTY KISSLING - CHUCK STUART. 

DUNCAN - DONNA AVERITT WISEHART - BETTE WECHSLER - JUDY BRITTON ONG - RUSS METZLER - STEVE WINEGARDNER - JOHN KISSLING - MARTY KISSLING - CHUCK STUART

I walked to one of the Grand Dining rooms. The group I was meeting had half-finished their meal. They call themselves BGNO, which stands for Boy’s Girl’s Night Out.  They meet at a different restaurant once a month. When I first started going with this marvelous group of people. I discovered restaurants I had never been to before. It’s a pleasant experience to dine with other people for lunch. You can find new places and restaurants in different parts of town that I never knew existed.  Listening to the conversation today turned political. The question of the cost of a meal at Gray’s raised its ugly head. Several folk felt Grays was too expensive, and one said,  “I’m not coming back here. It’s too far off the beaten path and way too expensive.”  As the group was breaking up, I cornered several of them and asked them to respond to a “Keyword” and give me the first thought that came into their mind. I said, “Grays Brother’s Cafeteria.”  “Pies.”  “Expensive.” “Pies.”  “Too far away.” “Fried Chicken.”  At Gray Brothers, cash is still king. I noticed a CC Conv charge of 3% at the bottom of the bill. Their Credit Card Service Provider must charge Gray Brothers 3% for processing credit cards, and Gray Brothers now pass along their fee to the customer. You can pay our fees if you want to use a credit card. Again, this is not meant as a criticism; I’m assuming that adding 3% to the cost of food would push the price of the food to a point where the dining room would become empty.  Inflation is rearing its ugly head everywhere. Normally, Gray Brothers has people standing in line out the door.  This is not a good look for Gray Brothers. I’ve never seen this place without a line going down and coming back.  Empty seats were everywhere. Many factors can contribute to a restaurant’s slow foot traffic on a Tuesday afternoon, but one has to wonder if inflation and the economy have anything to do with it. I plead guilty to thinking it does.

GRAY BROTHERS - MOORESVILLE

 GRAY BROTHERS - MOORESVILLE

By Duncan 

The Holiday Season is in full swing here in Central Indiana. I assume it’s the Holiday Season where you are too. It’s interesting when I start a new post, trying to place myself in the shoes of those who read this thing. Yes, folks in Indiana, Florida, Texas, Arizona, California, New York, Michigan, Wisconsin, and who knows where, tell me they read. ? I’m told by Google that a few read this blog from overseas. (Very few by the way) I try to keep everybody in mind. 

The title of this post, and of course, the Cafeteria in this story, is “Gray Brothers Cafeteria.” Known far and wide in Indiana. It’s a Cafeteria located in Mooresville, Indiana. It’s in its fourth generation of Gray Brothers operating the Cafeteria. It’s located 28 miles southwest of Indianapolis and is loved by one and almost ALL. I’ll explain. 

Two friends, Tony Viscovi and Steven Garrity, were meeting at Gray Brothers Cafeteria Sunday afternoon. I was invited to join them if I was in town. I was free. For me, the trip to Grays Brothers is 42 miles, or 1 hour and 6 minutes. It was misty, overcast, getting dark, and looked like it might rain.  

I decided to sit in my big leather easy chair and watch the Indianapolis Colts obliterate and destroy the Cincinnati Bengals on CBS. Yeah, Baby! As the one-o-clock game progressed, I could see we would be beaten and beaten badly. I had to put my tail between my legs and noticed my bag of chips was not nearly as tasty as they were when the game started. Cincinnati was “having their way with us.” (34-14) 

At the start of the fourth quarter of the game, I started thinking about Grays. I hadn’t been to Grays in a while. What the “Hey” I got up and said to myself, "To hell with the game.” Why sit here and watch us lose? I grabbed my overcoat, hopped in the ‘Mean Yellow’ and headed for Mooresville. After all, it's Gray Brothers Cafeteria, a destination restaurant. I hadn’t seen Mr. Viscovi in a while and needed to catch up on what was happening in his life. 

Gray Brothers - when business was very good, this was normal for many years. 

The operation (Gray’s) was started in 1942 by Forrest Gray in downtown Mooresville as a sandwich shop. When Forrest passed, his sons Kenny and Larry took over the business and expanded the physical building downtown with two other buildings connected to the original shop. 

Then, the State of Indiana decided to build a highway that bypassed downtown Mooresville. In the mid-1960s, the highway plan would have a detrimental impact on their business. They would no longer get the automobile traffic expected from people driving through Mooresville. They had to make a major decision. They decided to abandon downtown Mooresville, find land, and build a building by the new interstate called Highway 67.  

The story that keeps coming up is that the Gray brothers took out a pretty hefty loan from the banks and were obsessed with paying off the loan as quickly as possible. I don’t know the loan terms in the mid-60s, but the sons worked seven days a week for seven years and paid off the loan. Interestingly, Forrest's sons Larry and Kenny wanted to be debt-free as quickly as possible. Where did they learn that from?

Gray Brothers is now (2023) considered Jason, Andy, Zachary, and Logan. No one knows how much revenue the restaurant makes a year, but some numbers are tossed around, and it’s estimated to be a couple of million or more a year. But who really knows for sure. 

Cafeteria-style dining is appealing to a certain demographic. If I were to say anything derogatory about Grays, I would be disparaging the American flag, motherhood, and apple pie.

 

So, I’ll tell you what I’m going to do here. I will salute the American Flag and embrace motherhood and apple pie. I will walk into Gray Brothers Cafeteria and force myself to get in line, push that blue plastic tray down the long cafeteria line, and find a table close to one of the beautiful fireplaces. 

When I arrived, I was a little early and surprised to find no line of people waiting. Good night, what is this all about?  

  

This is very unusual as Gray’s has always been known to have a line of people out the door. So in a way, I was pleased to be able to run the line without people behind me pushing their trays against my fingers. 

Yes, that is one of the reasons I'm not enamored with Cafeteria dining. I'm not the only one who feels Grays is becoming somewhat passé and overpriced. But, you can’t argue with success they still do a heck of a business. 

Jason Gray said, “Four days before Thanksgiving, the Cafeteria sells upwards of 8,500 fresh-baked pies, the busiest day for pies every year being the day before Thanksgiving, Gray said, when people come to pick up a pie—or several—for their own holiday gatherings they show up as soon as the restaurant opens at 6 AM.”

Jason Gray has also been known to say.“Food costs have quadrupled in the last four years,” 

”Anybody who goes to the grocery store knows how much food prices have gone up. It doesn’t take someone running a business to know that. It hurts when you have to raise prices. People will ask, ‘Why are you raising prices?’ and my answer is, ‘Have you been to the grocery store lately?’”

Then again, Gray’s attracts a more mature crowd, and I get it, people have grown up with Gray Brothers Cafeteria all their life. And it’s important to them to go back once in a while. 

People love this place, and I would be called a charlatan if I didn't embrace the concept of Gray Brothers Cafeteria totally, 100%. I understand I do, but once a year is good enough for me.  

And I’m sure some people just love the “home cooking” style of food. Yes, I’m set in my ways, and I try to embrace the Cafeteria style of restaurant, but it reminds me of being in the military, where I had to stand in line everywhere I went. 

I chose fried chicken, which Grays is known for as being the best of the best at freid chicken. However, is Gray's the best of the best? That's a stretch for me. But, the gal behind the line said it would be about 5 to 7 minutes before fried chicken would be available. I decided on the Tilapia and broccoli with cheese. 

I asked for your forgiveness, I forgot to take a picture of the food before I began to eat. I almost decided to not show my plate. I had someone comment about a story I wrote, there was no picture of the pizza. “Where is the picture of the breadsticks and pizza?” So, I decided to show you what I ordered, even if I did have a bite or two. 

The atmosphere is really beautiful at Gray Brothers. They have five fireplaces and can seat about 500 people inside the restaurant. And, of course, the gals come around and ask if we need anything. So, like I said, I was early and found a table close to a fireplace.  

Families gathered around Grandmother by the fireplace to get a good picture of them enjoying a night out on the town. Yes, they came close to my table and I decided to take a picture of Grandmother myself. 

Then, of course, there is sharing the photograph with the people who want a copy of the event. Have you ever wondered what people's lives are like when you watch them publicly? I always ask myself, this woman standing there, or this man, what about him? What does he or she do for a living? I had to chuckle at the guy standing with his hands in his hoodie. He has a very contented smile on his face. Tis the season to be jolly. 

When I joined the Air Force, they gave me a test. The test was designed to tell them (The Air Force) what I would be good at in the Armed Forces. After the test, the recruiter said I tested strong as a mechanic. I looked at the guy and said, “Is that a job where I get oil and dirt under my fingernails?” 

I was not picked to be a mechanic. Where did they put me? I was assigned to be an Air Policeman. I didn’t want to be known as a cop, so I upgraded my job classification occasionally, depending on who I was talking with, and called myself an Aerospace Security Specialist. However, if you notice, the acronym for Aerospace Security Specialist is (ASS). 

While writing this story, I received a phone call from a Pike High School Classmate. He was outside of Trader Joe's Market and said, 

“Holy Cow, a woman just drove up in what looks like a Cadillac Van. It’s huge. Is there such a thing as a Cadillac Van? I’ve never seen anything this big before. And it’s being driven by a young-looking woman; she could hardly get the van in the parking space. Have you (meaning me) ever heard of a Cadillac Van? I'm sure it's a van.”

   

Of course, I was sitting in front of my computer and asked Google, “Show me a picture of a new Cadillac Van.” And there it was, a 2024 Escalade ESV. I assume this was the vehicle he looked at in front of Trader Joe’s. His next comment was, what kind of money does a person make who can afford a $150,000 vehicle. I thought, (Is this van being driven by a daughter or a trophy wife?) 

My classmate told me he once took a test that would tell the tester what occupation he should pursue. There were several people in the room. As part of the exercise, the people in the room were to guess what they thought everyone else did for a living. My classmate (on the phone) wanted me to guess what the test revealed about him. I ventured a guess and said, “Something analytical?” 

He laughed, saying, “They said, after I took the test, I should be a mortician or undertaker. Prepare the deceased’s remains for a funeral.” He wasn’t sure he was good at makeup, clothing, and styling dead people's hair. I tried to comfort him with, “Well, there are the legal forms and paperwork that go with dead people. Did they talk about that? That’s somewhat analytical.” 

Tony Viscovi - Steven Garrity - Gray’s Cafeteria. 

I’m not sure of the exact title of Tony’s job. I would call him an insurance agent. Perhaps his business card has a more sophisticated title. But I have known Tony as a motorcycle riding buddy and as my personal insurance agent. 

Tony also carries Garrity’s home and auto insurance needs. Tony is an extremely personal kind of guy/agent. Tony was my agent until I went to Florida, and Tony said that he didn’t have a license to do business in Florida. 

Tony is getting ready to retire at the end of the year. He lost his father a little while back. Tony gave up his motorcycles and now wants to do a little traveling. He’s thinking about a Jeep and driving some Colorado mountain trails. He is unsure if he wants to invest in a tag-along fifth-wheel camper behind the Jeep. 

I asked him about his Saab automobile. He is meticulous about the care and feeding of his vehicles. He said he didn’t own the car; someone wanted to buy it, and he finally sold it. The Saab had 300,000 miles on the odometer. Now that’s a guy who takes care of his cars. It always looked brand new. 

Mr. Garrity is retired, lives in a beautiful log cabin, and owns three Cadillac Alante convertibles. He has been writing columns for the Cadillac Alante Club magazine and has 25 cover stories to his name. The man is a writing machine. 

Needless to say, Mr. Garrity writes about his trips in one of his Cadillac Allante Convertibles.

Many of you may know Mr. Garrity and I worked together in the mortgage lending game. Mr. Garrity is a road warrior. He has been everywhere in the United States in one of his convertibles.  

We talked about women, working, travel, politics, etc. We stayed late and were the last customers left in the room. The waitresses didn’t know what to do with themselves, so they interfaced with us. We teased them a little but soon realized we needed to tone it down in today's society. Okay, I needed to tone it down. Don’t want to be accused of sexual harassment. 

Photo Credit: Bubbles.  DUNCAN - GARRITY - VISCOVI 

“BUBBLES” - STEVEN GARRITY - Judgment day is coming … 

When I asked Bubbles who she wanted to be photographed with, she made no bones about who it should be. And so a new story begins. Maybe.