The man nodded.
“We can do that.”
Mason handed him the hammer.
On the handle, George had carved four words.
KEEP BUILDING THE TABLE.
That became the motto of the first Same Table Community House.
It opened eighteen months later.
Thousands came through during the first year.
Not only autistic people.
A veteran with PTSD who needed quieter seating.
A woman with dementia whose husband appreciated predictable menus.
Teenagers with social anxiety.
Parents with toddlers.
People who used communication devices.
Elderly customers with hearing difficulties.
People grieving.
People lonely.
People who simply wanted somewhere that did not require them to perform comfort they did not feel.
Mason worked there four days a week while taking classes in nonprofit management and accessibility design.
He never became the inspirational figure journalists wanted him to be.
He hated interviews.
When one reporter called him “a young man who overcame autism to transform hospitality,” Mason interrupted.
