The door banged open revealing a cacophony of filing cabinets, old regalia kept but no longer used, and some type of machine looking suspiciously like a table saw but with metal plates that seemed to hold addresses. All of it was dusty and typical of a storage room in a rarely-used warehouse. In the midst of the confusion, leaning over a dimly glowing laptop computer, there was the profile of a man of indeterminable age obviously working on something of great importance to him.
In hushed and almost reverential tones the man spoke. “See? I told you we’d likely find our Webmaster up here in lodge’s storage room. Sometimes I wonder if he lives here.”
The Old Webmaster leaned back and turned to face the door. He looked over his glasses at the familiar form of his Lodge’s recently installed Master. A energetic fellow with great promise, he’d stated at the last meeting that he’d found a whole group of young men interested in becoming Masons and hoped to increase lodge membership dramatically during his term.
A bright, energetic face peered around the corner. 19? 22? It was hard to tell but it seemed obvious that the young man wanted to present a good image. The Old Webmaster leaned forward to shake his hand. The wooden chair creaked and the young man seemed uncertain of what to do. Half-rising, the Webmaster realized that the hesitation came from an infrequent use of this type of greeting. Truly it was a different generation from his own although he too remembered being anxious when meeting the ‘scions of the lodge’ many a year ago.
Nervous but anxious to do the right thing, the young man blurted out: “Wow. I didn’t realize anyone your age would know about modern technology. You’re even using Wi-Fi!” Then, sensing the slight recoil of the Master standing beside him, he stammered an apology. The Old Webmaster spoke: “Well, yes. Sometimes I amaze myself too. It’s a bit hard to accept but I was dealing with computers probably before your parents were even born!”
“Crap” the young man exclaimed. “You ARE old!” The Old Webmaster just smiled. His eyes drifted to his computer screen with its Square and Compass as the desktop graphic. Another episode in his Masonic journey was about to begin.
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