Mixing politics and business

"Liberals are so stupid!"

There's a restaurant right down the block from my house. It's kinda cozy, very small -10 tables max, bar can seat about four. The food is mostly Italian and ranges from decent to really good. It's a little pricey, but heck, me and the Soundsurfrella (or "Lil" for short) like to splurge and eat well. And it's walking distance away! We can toss on a windbreaker and head up the street for a fine meal on a moment's notice AND we can drink as much wine as we want 'cause we don't have to drive home! What could be better?

But we don't go there anymore.

The owners of this restaurant, I am sorry to tell you, are right wing ass holes. Please do not interpret this in such a way as to think that I might consider anyone who leans to the political right as an ass hole - I don't. And even though the owners are indeed die-hard neocons, that in itself is not a reason for me to boycott a restaurant - especially a most convenient and pleasurable restaurant such as this. However, the owners of this particular restaurant are right wing ass holes who bring their politics into the restaurant.

One night, it was pretty late, and Lil and I had just finished a fine meal at said establishment. We decided to sidle up to the bar for an after dinner drink. Because we can. The owner, Art, is behind the bar, pouring drinks and sorting through the night's receipts, and he's chatting us up. His wife Carol joins him and we're engaging in some pleasant, brandy-fueled small talk about the restaurant, which they've recently acquired. It's all good. That is, until Art comes out with something like..."You'd have to be a LIBERAL to be that stupid! Yuk, yuk, yuk."

I do the Spock eyebrow, thinking to myself - "Did he really say that?" It was my wife's, small, involuntary mouse-like noise followed by a hint of atomized Bailey's Irish Cream coming from her direction that tipped me off that she heard it too.

My cousin Francis has a saying that I think really captures the surreal feeling of not being able to make heads or tales of what is happening in real time. He says:

"What the fuck? Over." As if he were talking on a CB radio.

That was my internal reaction to Art. "What the fuck? Over."

I mean, does Art think that the odds of a liberal coming to eat in his restaurant are so small that he can chance making a statement like that? (I live in a BLUE state for crying out loud) Or... Does he not care or is he too stupid to care about whether or not he offends or insults a patron? Or... Do Lil and I look so much like conservatives that he doesn't bother to ask before he disparages liberals? Or... Is he trying to clear the place of anyone but neocons? Or...

Later, in trying to make sense of this, I thought about the days when racism was de rigeur in the USA. (I realize those days are not necessarily over.) But there was a time in the recent past when it would not be unusual for a white man to say anything to anyone about black people, in any sort of tone, in earshot of (or even directly to) a black man. This was regardless of whether the black man was a restaurant patron, a neighbor or a stranger waiting for the same train. Their personal dignity was simply not of any concern to the white man, and the black man knew his place.

It occurred to me that this is the same attitude that right wing ass holes have about liberals. The term "liberal" is interchangeable with "nigger" in this respect, and that is exactly how they use it. It doesn't matter if they insult us, we're just liberals, for chrissakes. And we should expect it! It's standard operating procedure. Yassah, boss, that is a pretty funny joke you done made about us.

So Lil and I, we kept our mouths shut like good little liberal niggers and said goodnight. A week later, we're in the local pizza parlor having lunch and who do we see, but Carol and Art. We recognize each other and we chat. Once again, it's pleasant and innocuous - they've just come back from visiting their daughter in college, blah, blah, until sure enough, Art makes a derogatory comment about LIBERALS, followed by the obligatory donkey guffaw. I'm beginning to think he's not capable of carrying on a conversation without doing this. He's got right wing ass hole hoof and mouth disease. Again, we nod gamely and let it pass, but Lil and I have pretty much had it with this guy.

Outside of Art and Carol's restaurant, there's a little sandwich sign that the couple post the day's specials on. We pass it every day on the way to work. Once in a while, they put up a cute little comment like - "Please come in - Daughter's wedding coming up and we need money!" But lately, they've begun to pepper the sign with right wing ass hole comments. A few weeks ago it read: "Tonite's special: Joe Biden Filet - trout with no backbone". Last Saturday it was: "Halloween Weekend - Ghouls, Goblins, Liberals and Witches Welcome!" You can just hear the implied guffaw.

We were probably good for a dinner a month over there. That's about $1200 per annum in lost revenue for Carol and Art, minus revenue from any friends we might have turned on to the place, etc. I sometimes wonder what Art would think if he knew he had turned us off to his place. I also wonder if I should put on a "FUCK BUSH" T-shirt and sit at the bar nursing a single beer until it goes flat, greeting anyone who comes in with a big smile and the words "You're doin' a helluva job, Brownie!"

One thing I know for sure is that we Liberals should not cowtow to the right wing ass hole sense of social caste structure. We all need to do a Rosa Parks on that bullshit if and when we're subjected to it. I'm mad at myself for not doing it before, but the next time we run into Carol and Art (and it won't be in their restaurant), and are treated to one of their remarks, I'm gonna let them know right then and there that their right wing hooey is stinkin' up the joint.

-ss-

Off topic:

For anyone wrestling with the proponents of Intelligent Design Theory, the hilariously definitive argument against can be found in this blog. Case closed.