Lucrezia Borgia's Salon

An Atlanta woman's thoughts on random topics like relationships, politics, religion, food, wine, music, art, and pop culture.

Friday, October 14, 2005

The Crab Shack rocks!

OK, here comes an unapologetic, shameless commercial plug/endorsement for an establishment, product or service ...

On the weekend of Sept 30 - Oct 2 a good friend and I took a road trip to Savannah to celebrate their annual Oktoberfest. We stopped by the Crab Shack on Tybee Island for their Capt'n Crab Sampler, which is a gloriously messy and delicious platter of several different kinds of crab, plus crawfish, shrimp, sausage, potatoes, and corn, all simmered in a simple yet unbelievably tasty lowcountry boil. This sampler is so ohmyGodincredible that I insist on having it every time I go to Savannah, and I honestly believe it's worth a 4-hour road trip from Atlanta to Savannah just to enjoy that sampler for dinner with a glass of one of their pleasant whites, on their deck as the sun sets over the salt marsh and Jimmy Buffett tunes play in the background.

But that isn't the main reason why I wanted to write this, even though it's certainly compelling enough ... I really wanted to give them props in my blog because they're good folks. After finishing the sampler, I went to the ladies' room for a thorough washup of my hands and arms, and left my favorite watch on the sink. I hadn't realized I'd left it there until we were already back in Savannah and didn't have another chance to drive back to Tybee. So, when we returned to Atlanta, I emailed the Crab Shack on the off chance one of the patrons or waitstaff had discovered my watch and turned it in. Sure enough, the general manager herself replied to inform me that somebody did turn it in. I asked her how much the shipping would be so that I could write them a check or PayPal them for reimbursement, but they insisted on FedExing it to me free of charge on the condition that I tell everyone about the Crab Shack. This condition was most readily and happily accepted. :-)

So, if you're ever down that way, GO to the Crab Shack. Heck, make a special trip down there, just for that. You won't regret it!

Labels: , , , ,

NPR's "This I Believe" contest

An acquaintance told me that NPR is sponsoring an essay contest entitled "This I Believe," sent in a submission and encouraged me to send in one as well. Here's my stab at it, I hope you enjoy.

This I Believe ...

I believe that gifts and blessings are poured forth in all places, even in the darkest days, if only you open your eyes to see them.

I believe in the gifts of clarity and honesty, summarized in the simple aphorism "Say what you mean, and mean what you say," which my dad has always said to me, as well as my granddad before him. I believe that being clear and honest with yourself and others is to honor yourself, God, and the rest of God's creation.

I believe in the gifts of choice and free will. We as adults have the power of choice, every second of our lives, and no matter what mistakes we make and what tragedies befall us, we can still choose how we wish to see them and what and whether to learn from them. And we still have the choice to greet each day recognizing that although the past has made us who we are today, we don't have to be wedded to victimhood and shackled to our past today or tomorrow.

I believe that there is so much more going on in this beautiful world, in the universe, and inside of us than we humans with our wondrous yet limited senses can even begin to grasp or quantify - and that the gifts of humility and surrender help us to understand and accept the process as it unfolds in the infinite sweep of time and space.

Consider that atoms (and by extension, all molecular structures, including living beings) are 10 percent matter and 90 percent energy. There is 90 percent more to all of us than meets the eye. That 90 percent is the gift of the human soul.

I believe that there are definite evil and evildoers in the world, and the destruction, suffering, pain and anguish they cause are gifts, because they strengthen our character, provide definition, and enable us to appreciate, treasure, and live in all that is good and positive.

I believe in the gifts of faith, hope, and love; and in the greatest of these gifts, which is love. I believe we are all here on this earth to learn about love, in all its different manifestations, and that we all have a tacit agreement with one another, established before we were even born, to teach and learn from one another about love once we get here. And that even though the lessons you learn may be very scary, tough and ugly sometimes, you must always keep your mind and heart open through the pain and never lose sight of those lessons.

I believe that we are all God's face, eyes, hands, ears, and lips to one another on this earth and we must never forget this tremendous gift and responsibility in how we see and treat other people, at work and in our personal lives.

And, finally, because of all of the above, "I believe in you ... and I believe in me."

Labels: , ,

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Snoop Dogg starts youth football league

This is great! Snoop has started his own youth football league in Los Angeles.

Labels: ,

PC Nazis are at it again

The political correctness/sensitivity/diversity Nazis are at it again ...

A tavern in southwest Ohio has been ordered to take down its sign stating simply, "For Service, Speak English" and its staff is now required to take diversity courses. Ohio law says that any proprietor of a place of public accommodation may not deny the full enjoyment of the accommodations based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, age or ancestry. OK, fine. Let's take a careful look at exactly what this sign says, though. Does it say "Whites Only" as so many signs did in the 1950s? Nope. Are there any specific, direct references to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, age, or ancestry in this sign? Nope. The sign is only a reference to the language that should be spoken to get service. Nothing more, nothing less. It's just the flip side of the signs that say "Se Habla EspaƱol," indicating that bilingual personnel are available on the premises to cater to people's needs in Spanish and not English. The proprietor of this tavern probably put this sign up for the one simple reason that he doesn't have bilingual or multilingual personnel who can communicate with (and serve) legals, illegals, etc. in any language other than English, and therefore, any patrons who come in wanting to speak Spanish, Mandarin, etc. can't and won't be fully served.

These days, because the U.S. Hispanic market has tremendous purchasing power that is expanding at no less than an explosive pace (as in, around $600 billion currently and predicted to reach as much as $1 trillion by 2010)not hiring multilingual personnel, not providing multilingual labeling and materials for your products and services, not advertising those products and services in Spanish, etc., is a really dumb move - in fact, it's practically tantamount to business suicide when it comes to long-term planning. But private business owners are not (at least not yet) required to make these changes, and if they decide to commit business suicide, it should be their stupid mistake and their stupid choice to make. And whoever is offended at these stupid choices has every right to choose to go elsewhere and patronize a business that does provide multilingual services, and vote with his or her pocketbook, and allow the free market to take care of the problem through supply and demand and natural extinction of businesses that can't or won't keep up.

I wonder if the tavern might have been allowed to keep its sign up if it had put a "Please" in there.

Labels: , , , ,