I’m a Wendy’s Man!

By Atom Bergstrom

Atom’s Blog

Fernando “Chris” Cardenosa, William Vance, and I attended Adnan Sarhan’s Sufi workshop in Cheviot Hills, California.

There was music, dancing, chanting, and … a Wendy’s commercial.

Interrupting the Middle Eastern music Adnan was playing on his cassette player, a voice enthusiastically announced, “I’m a Wendy’s man.”

Adnan slyly grinned, and everyone laughed.

This interloping line from a Wendy’s commercial was incongruous amidst all the “consciousness” music and Sufi exercises.

Chris, William and I made a running joke out of it.

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Driving back to my digs in Carpinteria, we kept the joke afloat …

“Hey, Bill, there’s a Wendy’s billboard! Wave at Wendy!” “Hi, Wendy!”

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I checked my mail as soon as we got home. There was a letter from … Wendy.

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“Wow! What a synchronicity!” I marveled. “I haven’t heard from Wendy for a long time. I used to work on her when she lived in Carpinteria. She was a client.”

Wendy Hynes was now living in Fairview, New Mexico, not far from Adnan’s Sufi Foundation of America in Torreon.

Chris, William, and I laughed at the “coincidence,” and immediately incorporated it into our snowballing Wendy jokes.

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The next day, the three of us drove to the Bay Area to see Gurinder Singh at the San Francisco Civic Auditorium.

The running joke continued with or without Wendy’s highway billboards: “Hi, Wendy!” “How are you, Wendy?”

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We arrived at the San Francisco Civic Auditorium along with a couple of thousand other people. Everyone had to file through metal detectors, and even one-inch pocket knives were confiscated.

The auditorium was crowded, so we settled for balcony seats far from the speaker’s platform. We indulged in pleasant chitchat awaiting the presence of the “Perfect Master.”

“Ed! … Ed!” (my intermediate name at the time)

Someone was calling my name.

I turned around, and there was … Wendy!

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Wendy Hynes and her husband, Kenny, were seated just a few rows behind us.

Wendy had been feeling ill, so she actually mentioned to Kenny, “I wish Ed were here.”

“He IS here,” Kenny casually replied. “He’s a few rows in front of us.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m sure that’s Ed up there. That guy’s got long hair and a hat, but I’m SURE it’s Ed.”

“That CAN’T be Ed.”

“Well … just call his name and find out.”

“Ed! … Ed!”

That’s when I turned around.

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When Wendy lived in Carpinteria, she even had a session with Adano Ley (Swami Nitty-Gritty).

She wondered why she felt such a strong urge to say “Radha Soami!” to him.

She figured guys like us would be clueless about things like Radha Soami, Sant Mat, and the Audible Life Stream.

Wendy respected my unconventional wellness views, but told me, “When I knew you in Carp, I thought you were a bit flip.”

Who, me?
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