Someone brought up the topic....if people had ever met a white supremacist in their life?
I paused over the question.
To me, it means asking if you mean a KKK-guy, and the answer would be no. You might have accidentally bumped into such a guy and not realized it because the topic didn't come up.
In my Air Force years? I came across one single guy who was 50-percent a nutcase (a alcoholic as well) on top of being a racist. Beyond that....you just don't normally bump into white supremacists.
A number of folks saw the comment on Twitter, and they all basically said the same thing.....they just haven't met these supremacists that get mentioned all the time.
To be honest, if you asked me about meeting nutcases....well....OH YEAH, there's probably two-hundred folks that I considered seriously bothered, and potentially dangerous. Just in walking around DC on a Saturday....you'd meet a minimum of one. Sitting at an airport around twenty years ago....some older gal was all tranquilized-up and talking over church members in her church....who were going to hell.
The topic that came up today....my brother brought up the topic of great Alabama restaurants.....primarily getting scored this way (over the top) because they had 'nice' waitresses'.
What does 'nice' mean? This is the gal who greets you at the door....bringing to the best table, and then immediately getting you glasses of iced-up water with a menu.
Then they start talking....with the usual slow dictation, with a Selma-like drawl. You get the elongated vowels....that aren't supposed to exist, but they insert them anyway.
They always let you know that the salad is fresh....like you were expect 7-day old salad.
The ice-tea? They always let you know it was just brewed in the last hour, and the lemons were cut 'fresh'....leaving you to wonder what'd happen if they weren't fresh.
At this point in the conversation, you note that her distinctive pronunciation of terms has slowed down 25-percent....like you were paying extreme attention to her vast knowledge of the menu.
Now, you've memorized her name-tag (always a 'Cindy', 'Mandy', or 'Darlene').
By the end....with just plain good cooking, the waitress has brought things up to a five-star level.
The thing is....you remember that sparkle and extra effort....bringing you back for a second trip.
You need moments like this.
I mostly always enjoy reading your "thoughts". I have only seen 1 person post a comment here. Is it safe for me to assume that, I am 1 of 2 reader's of your humble blog?
ReplyDeleteStatistically-speaking, from Google's numbers...probably toward 500 hits a week is the average for this blog (more so on the German blog). The vast majority of people are 'readers' not commenters. When I had this connected to FB/Twitter...there was a higher rate of hits/comments...since leaving both....less so.
ReplyDeletea)
ReplyDelete1979-89, we owned a restaurant business in a north California university town.
Our wait-staff kept the customers coming back.
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b)
Readers can comment, and vigorously.
Comments with links get a gentle scold... along the lines of 'not really set-up for those'.
When I started on essays (blogs)...it was 2008 and it was mostly because I had people asking me a lot of Germany question (how to stuff). In 2010, I branched off....with two essay/blog sites (one for Germany, one for random thoughts).
ReplyDeletePeople can read or comment...I don't really care. If anything, society needs more porch-like situations where thoughts are exchanged over a glass of tea or a bit of whiskey, with no clear winners at the end. Originally, Twitter headed that way, and got off track....it might recover and be a better area for exchange of thoughts in the future.
I enjoy reading your blogs, esp the German one. I've wondered if the lack of comments was a disappointment - it's good to see that you don't car.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your thoughts.