Drunks

Man, I hate drunks. After work last night I went to a place that was still open on the way home to my house. Small, walk up to the counter and order type place. I go in, there is a young lady taking orders and a guy in the back cooking.

I can tell right away that she is not having a good night. It is a small place, and it's about 3/4 full. To boot, there is a very loud, very big, and very DRUNK guy giving her a hard time about just about everything. He takes forever to order, is trying to flirt with her, and then sits down next to her boyfriend (who is sitting at the counter, looking like he is doing everything he can not to get really pissed off at the guy....and then this joker comes and sits right next to him and starts telling him about what a firecracker his girlfriend is. Then he starts talking about he President, and then he starts talking about growing up in the ghetto, and asked te boyfriend where he had grown up. When the guy said "in the projects in Minnesota", drunk guy said that "there weren't any projects in Minnesota", and was just generally an ass. So, the guy finally gets his food. He'd ordered a sandwich that came with a side, and immediately starts criticizing the size of the side.

Now, I have thought for a long, loooooooooooooooooooooong time that BarBQue places are expensive, and possibly overpriced. Dunno, and I'm openminded about that. Good 'Que takes time, and time is money understood.

But that's not the point here. Granted, the size if the side was small. However, it's my opinion that the side was just something that they threw in. I mean, let's face it, the $7 that he was paying was for the sandwich. He starts throwing a fit, and starts to get belligerent. The poor girl behind the counter can only take so much before she goes back to get the cook. He comes out, and gets to listen to the guy berate him, berate the size of the portion and just generally be an ass.

And this is the part that really sucks. I can almost see the thought process that is working for the cook. Tell the guy to Piss Off? Tell the guy that is the portion and apologize? Tell him to contact the owner? 86 him?


Did I mention that this guy was big, and looked like he would think a fight would be a fun time? Did I mention that this guy is starting to move slowly into getting into the cooks face?

The cook looks at the guy for a long 30 seconds, swallows, and goes back to get the guy a bigger portion of the side.

I can't begin to express how sorry I felt for the guy. I went outside and ate, and went back in after the place had emptied out. Told them both how much I appreciated them being open and how they were a nice alternative to Fast Food or the ID, with the added bonus of being right on the way home. Turns out the cook isa a HELL of a nice guy and has a kid in pre-kindergarten. He pointed out the picture of him and his son that he had taped up to the wall in the back. After chatting with them both awhile, I left. I hope that they do well, and I think one of these days I'll go back and try to ask the owner about ditching that small side size.

Stephen King In Entertainment Weekly...

You may or may not know that Stephen King writes a bi-monthly column on pop culture for Entertainment Weekly magazine. You also may or may not know that along with Chuck Palahniuk and J.R.R. Tolkien, he is one of my favorite authors. He wrote a piece for this weeks EW that he titled "My Manifesto". Long Live the King.

I had cut and pasted the entire thing here, but after heeding the advice of my lovely (and smart) wife, I've taken it down and replaced it with a link to the article. Why? Well, because a)don't wanna get sued, and b)it looked like I was saying that I wrote the column, which I certainly did not. I will, however, strongly encourage you to cut and paste the link below and read it. It's very funny and I agree with him 100%

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/commentary/0,6115,1085457_71095500_0_,00.html


(Amne, Brotha! ~ Fay Jai)

Apologies...Not much bloating lately....

Have been having something going on with my stomach...Bad constipation and what feels like a persistant stitch in my side. Blech. I know that something must be wrong 'cause I have not really felt like eating much lately...It's been about 5 weeks now since I have been to Dick's, that is the longest time I have not been there in about 5 years...My doctor says that I should eat more fiber...Man, am I getting bored of cereal....:(

I am actually checking out the fiber content of stuff that I buy at the store now. I'm taking acidophilus (Thanks, Irwin!) Drinking Ginger Tea, (Irwin again, and btw, it is really f'ing good) and eating prunes oh wait, I sorry, dried plums, which actually aren't too bad.

Ah, well...In September over Labor Day w/e I will be taking a class and will be learning how to make Pate (Hmmm....Talk about Fatty Liver!) and make my own Bacon. YEE HAW!

Bloating It Up

Sooo....

My wife was wondering why I chose the name "Bloat It Up" for my blog. Easy. While I was attending Lower Columbia College, my good friend Jake and I liked to go out and eat. We were both members of the Speech Debate Team and would really eat alot when we were at tournaments. We would eat until we were bloated. Jake, who is smarter, more eloquent, and pretty much all around a cooler guy then I am, started to say that when we ate, we were going to go out and "bloat it up." Hence the name.

I will say that it always mildly annoyed me how thin Jake was. I realize that some readers of this may have come across it by accident, but (hopefully) some of my friends, (who know how I eat) are reading this as well. Folks, in comparison to Jake, I eat like an anorexic runway model. I have never been able to figure out where this guy puts it! My best memory of watching Jake bloat it up was at Rose's Restaurant in Portland. I think that it is closed now, but back in the day, Rose's was known for its sandwiches. Big, sothickyoucouldbarelygetyourmoutharoundit sized sandwiches. We were there after a debate tournament, (of course,) and after chowing down his pastrami on white, Jake polished off another half sandwich that a teammate could not even bear to look at anymore. After one, I felt like I could barely move, but Jake was good to go for more even after a sandwich and a half. Truly, watching the man put it away was watching an artist at work. I've not had the pleasure of dining with him in awhile, but always look forward to it when I have the chance.

Andy's Diner - The train has left the station...

So....

I ran across someone on egullet wondering about Andy's Diner down near Safeco Field.

For God's Sake, Man...Don't!

Here's why....

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=57184