The restaurant, Barley and Burger, always puts their social media to good use. They posted this photograph on their Facebook Page a few days before Memorial Day Weekend. On the menu, it’s called a Burger Bowl, which never appealed because I hadn’t noticed I could choose chicken. My Thursday “date” varies with Denise Watkins, who you know from  Skyvue Skating, her family-owned business. It could be a late breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Lured by this photograph, I asked if Barley and Burger were possible. We arrived at 5:00 when the door opened.

Just now, they have some hard-working, pleasant teenagers on staff that make you proud. The young man who waited on us handled my request to serve the salad on a plate and the chicken breast cut up with a smile, and a ‘can do’ attitude, which I appreciated. The presentation on an attractive white plate was fabulous, and the salad DELICIOUS.

At 5:20, all but four tables were filled. At 6:40, every seat was taken, and people were at the door. I’d say Barley and Burger is a roaring success. All the food is excellent, the atmosphere friendly. For some, it is date night and grinning, young love. It is always family night, a working lunch, grandchildren with grandparents, and just plain friends like Denise and me. My grandson(in-law) brings my five-year-old great-granddaughter, Annaclaire, to Barley and Burger on their date nights. They have good sweet tea, which is important to me! The restaurant is located at 2921 Zebulon Road. The next time I’m there, I hope I see you.

“The medium of podcasting and the personal nature of it, the relationship you build with your listeners and the relationship they have with you—they could be just sitting there, …

Hi Everyone: Stepheny here talking Main Street.…and the recording rolls on from there. This new endeavor has kept me busy learning as I go along. I am having trouble walking and chewing gum at the same time. I’m convinced that in order to keep a job at WordPress, the platform I use for my blogging, you must dream up “improvements.” These improvements make everything more difficult, take more time, and make me swear, and, feel cranky! There are enough crazy things happening in the world, that I’m already cranky with a capital, C.

When it comes to social media these days, I am torn because of the obvious political bias that is involved. Yet, I’ve lost count of the number of free courses I have taken through the Community Colleges across North Carolina that have Small Business Departments. This is an amazing opportunity I take advantage . I’m determined not to be left behind, Senior, though I may be. I select the classes that have to do with social media: Innagram, Facebook, Blogging, podcasting, videoing, the use Canva.com and more. I love it. It is addictive if you are a student at heart as I am. I’ll admit when no one’s around, I dance a little jig and say, “Stepheny, you did it!” My mentor and dear friend, Denise Watkins, has mastered it all. Look at her social media for Skyvue Skating. She will straighten me out if I hit a brick wall. When I begin to smile again, she says, “You go, girl!”

I understand your reluctance to learn new technology, but I encourage you nonetheless. When it comes to this decision to use social media, I think Hamlet sums up the dilemma nicely.

To be, or not to be, that is the question:
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
And by opposing end them.

I invite you to subscribe to the 5-minute podcast where I weave storytelling and my point of view through another episode of Talking Main Street with Stepheny.