Peg O'Neill wrote:Hi all -
Robin, please feel free to delete/lock this post if you feel it is too inflammatory or out of place here, but I was truly alarmed (and upset) by more than a handful of the responses on the Yum/food stamps thread.
In fairness to our host, I can't remember the last time he deleted, moved, or locked anything. I'm not sure why people are always so whipped up about their posts being moved or deleted. I'm not picking on you...I'm just sayin'...Robin has always been a fair and level headed moderator in my opinion with a reluctance to edit or censor anyone. Although I do sometimes miss the one regular that worked hard at, and then actually managed to get his butt kicked out of here
(Robin, you can remove, delete, or edit that last bit if you're worried about this thread dissolving into a conversation about Longhorn steakhouse, but please keep the part about you being righteous!).
Anyway, I understand disagreeing with a point of view, but are you truly "alarmed" and "upset" that not everyone thinks the way you do? I know you're probably just being colorful, but when I hear those words I picture someone in their pajamas curled up on the floor sucking their thumb. You don't make it clear which side of the issue you're on, but the fact is that there are people in this country that think food stamps should be thrown from downtown windows like ticker tape (lest 20% of the population will die of starvation...IMMEDIATELY ) and others that think that anyone that accepts a hand-out is a complete degenerate. However, when I just went back through that thread I really didn't see too much of either of these points of view. I did see a couple of people suggest that we keep a closer eye on those using our money (the money I personally might be otherwise spending locally) to buy their food. Not a completely unreasonable stance given that I was in line at the grocery store behind someone dressed in fresh $150 sneakers, wearing $150 sunglasses, using an Iphone to plan a night on the town...all while spending food stamps on food that made a Burrito Supreme look like a farm-to plate, organic, multi-grain, colon busting, humus wrap stuffed with wilted field greens and imported stinky cheese sprinkled with fenel seed in comparison. Call me a radical, but I'm not sure what's so alarming about wanting to reel in in a bit.
I was wondering if any other members of this forum have given much thought to the class disparities (and, de facto, racial disparities) when it come to finer dining.
No, other than the casual observation that many of my poorest friends treat themselves to high-end restaurants fairly regularly while some of my richest friends rarely eat out at all and when they do it's at Chili's or somesuch...Different priorities I guess.
I began thinking about this first from an eating locally perspective - for example, I am privileged enough to live in an area with a wealth of local and even nutritional food options. Then I started thinking about the restaurant industry itself - what the kitchen and waitstaff looks like at a local, slightly higher-end place vs. at a fast-casual concept. This, of course, got me thinking more and more about various institutional issues at play that may contribute to a (from what I've noticed) less diverse staff at some places, and I was just wondering if anyone else had given it much thought.
I hope people use this space as an opportunity to talk about such things and maybe recognize room for improvement, and not get defensive about it.
You lost me on that one...
