My brother in law Bobby is a special guy and he has been in a really different type of Supper Club for years.
My wife Susan used to get upset when I jokingly referred to Bobby as “my favorite communist”. When I told him the story he countered with “I am really more of a Marxist”. The beauty of Bobby is that he is one of those genuine liberals that really walks the walk.
Bobby’s socialist roots go back to being a political science major in the 1960’s. I think he was head of the SDS at the University of New Hampshire back in 1968. The guy has some liberal “Cred”.
Now while he has a socialist background he also understands capitalism better than most. When PC’s first came out back in the 70’s/80’s he was teaching high school math and he started a software company to develop school administration programs. He says that I told him to “Cash Cow” the business and started investing in condominiums. I don’t remember telling him to cash out the business, but I do regret not investing in the condos with him. He wound up owning 269 condos that he bought mostly at distress sales from banks. He also set up a company to manage over 400 condos.
In 2006 just before the housing crash he decided to sell the condos. (Perfect timing) The piece that makes Bobby special is that he GAVE the condo management company to the employees. Lots of folks will talk a liberal bent but this guy walks the walk. He sort of combines the best of capitalism with the best of socialism. This reminds me of the old Joke:
A farmer from Maine goes to Boston and hears a lecture on socialism. He goes back to his buddies in Maine and announces that: “I am a socialist”. To which his friends queried:
- You mean if you had two houses you would give one away? To which our new socialist replied: “Yup”
- You mean if you had two cars you would give one away? Again he replied: “Yup!”
- You mean if you had two cows you would give one away? To which he replied: “Well that is not fair, you know I have two cows”
As unique as Bobby’s story is, his Supper Club is unique as well. For years he and his wife have gotten together once a month with another couple for dinner. They alternate between each other homes and enjoy socializing over a meal. The tough part is that Bobby is a good cook and goes to great lengths to serve something special. He has been known to make some amazing vegan dishes
Check out the recipe for grilled eggplant with tomato concassé
The other couple consistently serves similar pasta dishes. This dichotomy does present a bit of friction, but the Supper Club continued on for years.
I guess the moral of the story is that with both people and Supper Clubs – all types can be very successful.
If you enjoy this blog and similar other stories/supper club lessons subscribe to get future blogs at www.impromptufridaynights.com/blog and be on the look out for my book Impromptu Friday Nights a Guide to Supper Clubs due out from Morgan James Publishing on January 30, 2018.