They Like Me, They Really Like Me

I really love my Patch swag. I've got a bunch of it now—Patch hat, Patch polo shirt, Patch zip-up sweatshirt. I take notes with Patch pens and swig from a Patch waterbottle. I even attach things to my fridge with a Patch magnet.

And I've started wearing my Patch clothing everywhere if I can—perhaps because what I love more than anything about it is having residents come up to me and tell them that they're thoroughly enjoying Patch. (Or, as I am very used to hearing it called, "the Patch"—which also works just fine.)

My boilerplate response, besides an enthusiastic "thank you," is "it's always nice to know I'm not writing for a blank wall." But to be honest, I need to change that one up. By this point, enough residents have been generous enough to share their kind words about what we've been doing that I feel thoroughly assured of a devoted readership.

I got a hello at Starbucks. I got four or five when covering the school board caucus. There've been about a dozen in total, and each one just totally makes my day.

There's actually three reasons why they make my day. One, of course, is that I like having my stuff read—and it's part of my job to make sure it is. The second is that I truly believe that Patch can be a tremendous service for the Village of Western Springs, and the more people using the site, the better off we will be.

And finally, I'm happy just to meet people in the village under any circumstances. I don't think it ever gets old to say that this is a tremendously friendly community—I certainly never stop hearing it from the residents here, or seeing it at village events, from sports to social meet-ups. This isn't quite a community where everybody knows everybody else. But I always get the feeling it's a community where everybody would like to know everybody else.

So if you see me, it's very simple to make my day and reaffirm my beliefs about Western Springs. Say hi. Shake my hand. And tell me about your buddy's new wacky project or adventure—it probably would turn out to be a pretty fun story!