GLOUCESTER, Mass. — Wow! You’re in the Coast Guard? That’s so cool! My cousin Mike is in the Coast Guard too. You probably know him. He’s on one of your boats in Virginia. You know, one of the big white ones.

I know right now we’re talking at a barbeque with some mutual friends at a place in Gloucester, Massachusetts, but you all know each other, I’m sure of it. You see I live in Barberton, Ohio, but when I walk into a Starbucks in another town, everyone says my name when they give me my drink. Everyone knows me!