“Thank you for what you are doing.” –The Organizer

Tomorrow is Presidents’ day. I thought about beginning this post with a quote from President Obama (I love how that sounds) or from President Lincoln, both of whom are known for their oratory prowess.

But I’m not thinking about presidents right now. I’m thinking about the theater. My life, our lives, for the past week and a half or so have been the theater. More specifically our theater: the Oakland Center for the Arts.

There has been a series of potential setbacks surrouding our upcoming production, and yet we’ve met them as a community of people who are striving to bring art that asks tough questions to a larger community who needs to consider these questions.

So this afternoon, four of us from the board met at a Kravitz’s deli to talk theater. We took our laptops and notebooks to the deli’s side room to get down to business. As always when a board meets, most of our conversation centered around improving…on what we could do better.

At a nearby table, five women were enjoying lunch together. We barely noticed them until their conversation turned to local theater. We overheard the name “Oakland” and then several statements about us like “I hear they’re all volunteers at the Oakland.”

The four of us fell silent and listened a little, and then Brooxie asked, “should we chime in?” We turned in unison and said, “Hi, we’re from the Oakland.” What followed was a friendly discussion about local theater. They asked questions and we answered. We added one of the ladies’ names to our email list because she was the group’s “organizer,” as they all claimed.

We thanked them for their interest . As they bid us goodbye, the Organizer turned and said, “Thank YOU for what you do.”

Although her statement may not have had *presidential* oratory, it was the most eloquent thing I’d heard all week. Is there anything more eloquent, really, than a thank you? Than an acknowledgement of dedication and service and passion?

It was perfect and simple and serendipitous, and it brightened us.

Thank you.