The Dairy King is an old rambling large three-story Victorian house on my block The structure and systems have been well-maintained but it looks a little shabby sometimes in the way a place does when it's well-used. The owners are generous and make everyone feel welcome. They invite spirited talk but they'll throw your ass out if you cross certain lines. It's an amazing place really, no matter what time of day or night you stop in, somebody is up and there is somebody to talk to.
Walking in the front door is kind of weird. If you knock, nobody comes to the door. You just need to open the door and walk in. When you first come in you're in a reception hall. It's pretty good sized and there is a prominent staircase in that room. If you come to the house during one of their `busy' times there will be people sitting in groups in the reception hall talking and another group will be on the steps. People are pretty good about letting you join their group and talk but they don't invite you in. Actually they don't even look at you until you go up to their circle and speak. So you have to be willing to speak up.
The first hundred times I visited the house I just wandered around looking and listening. Right off of the reception hall is a large parlor. There is no TV in there and the owners have furniture grouped for conversations. It's kind of cool. That room seems to have a low buzz going all the time with as many as six or seven groups of people talking. Usually one or two people in a group are on a chair and the rest sit on the floor.
Behind the parlor is a large dining room. As soon as you walk in there you know that something important is going on. That's true every time you go, day or night. There is a pretty large dining room table that is surrounded by chairs. There are 4 or 5 people who take turns sitting at the head of that table and they lead the discussion. Dozens and dozens of people crowd into the dining room to listen to them talk and jump in with comments. Sometimes, I swear you can't even get into the dining room because it's so filled with people and a crowd will gather in the butler's pantry and kitchen and try to listen to the talk in the dining room. That works a little bit but it usually deteriorates into a lot of shushing and finally people go off and start having their own conversations.
If you walk up to the second or third story you find more rooms and more groups talking. If the weather is good people sit on the porch and all over the yard. There's even one group that meets down in the basement a few times a week. They bring pictures of cats and other animals and babies and make fart noises and laugh and laugh and laugh. It's amazing. I don't know if the owners actually live in the house--I don't know how they could, there is always somebody there. Actually I've never really talked to the owners but I've glimpsed them and they seem nice. They probably wouldn't let so many people hang out in their house if they weren't.
Most of the people who come to the house are really cool. The people who talk are smart and many are very funny. That's probably why I went to the house 100 times before I talked--it's intimidating! But of course some of the people who stop in are ass-holes. They think they know more than everyone else and get into arguments that are boring and stupid. A few times I've seen drunk people come to the house--everyone just tries to ignore them. Sometimes I see very sad people and I wish I could help them. There are some artists who sometimes bring in their work.
Last May I stopped smoking after about 38 years. Every time I want a cigarette, I walk on down to the Dairy King. I guess everybody has their own reasons as to why they started visiting that house but it is pretty obvious why they keep coming back.