For Thursday, June 29, 2000                                        Drummer Column, Gibbs, 737 words

 

 

Sweet Charlotte

 

 

     Prophesy? Coincidence? Dumb luck? Who knows, but I found myself in Charolette, North Carolina, over the weekend. I flew there with the who's who of local school folk -- Joanne Haukland, Rhea Zaks, Mary Delaney Dunn, Mike Becker, and Bob Palous. We were there to participate in a new digital revolution in school record keeping. Some large national educational organizations, whose acronyms would only clutter the point, have converged around a new software program called QSP -- Quality School Portfolio.

     QSP will allow schools to create a database of school and student information that is virtually limitless in its ability to cross-reference. For example, if we need to know how our 5th grade students are performing in math, based on gender, ethnicity, economics, mobility, disability, attendance, language proficiency, and/or whatever, we just select the variables and punch a button. Up pops a pie chart, a bar graph, a scatter graph, whatever we want. If we need to know how much owning a car and having a job is affecting teenage boys' performance in reading scores -- click, punch, pie, print: there it is.

     Fifteen school districts in America were chosen to pilot this program. Thanks to the diligence of Joanne, who has been in constant contact with these groups for years, ever since QSP was but a concept, we got our hat in the ring. Not only will we be first in the nation, but for now at least QSP will also be free.

     But this column is about doughnuts. So consider this sentence the segue: QSP sounds like Kwisp, which rhymes with Krisp, which goes with Kreme, which makes Krispy Kreme, the lightest, tastiest doughnuts in the world. Winston-Salem, North Carolina, happens to be the cradle of the birth of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts back in 1937, Krispy Kreme that also has its own display at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.

     Why does that matter? Because I'm a psycho? Nooo. Because last year Krispy Kreme finally came to California when it opened its first shop in La Habre. Since then it has slowly spread north, only recently opening in Union City, Mountain View, and coming soon to Sacramento. The problem is, the doughnuts are so popular that a Benician like myself would not only have to drive for many miles, but would also have to wait in line for many hours just to sample his first doughnut. NorCal fans take vacation days to drive to KK shops and stand in blockbuster lines all day.

     Why does that matter? Because I bought stock in Krispy Kreme two months ago, shortly after its IPO, and it's up 20 points. I also went to their Website and mail-ordered his and hers T-shirts for Susan and me. I even got me a KK hat. However, I had never had the opportunity to eat a KK doughnut, until my recent fortunate visit to Sweet, Sweet Charlotte.

     After our first conference day, I ran straight to the phone book and looked up the address of the nearest Krispy Kreme. It was so far away, it cost me a $30 cab ride to get there. The ride, however, was paid for with the profits of my investment.

     I bought three dozen doughnuts and another hat. I ate my first six Krispy Kreme doughnuts in the cab ride back to the Omni Hotel. How did they taste? How did they feel? What was the texture on my tongue? Oh, my. Oh, my, my, my. It was like Heaven, paradise, and primal love turned into dough -- small, light as air, they melt in your mouth. They are absolutely as delicious as all the hype says they are.

     So, anyhow, here's where the story gets interesting (BTW, this column will be continued next week, so adjust yourself now to the fact that we are out of time): I returned to the Omni carrying three dozen doughnuts (minus 6) and a Krispy Kreme hat. Ding. The elevator opened and I entered the front lobby. My Benicia group had scattered for the day, but I knew a couple of them were in a late meeting, so I figured I'd treat them to their first Krispy Kreme doughnuts. The looks, the stares, the droolings that I saw as I walked among the visitors to Charlotte lounging in the lobby assured me that the untasted magic of Krispy Kreme doughnuts had spread evenly across this fine country of ours.