Day: December 27, 2011

Here’s the thing.  There has been a long time Gloucester bar/restaurant that I’d long ago given up on.  Not because the food was terrible.  Not because the ambiance was nasty.  Not because the prices were high.  Quite the contrary actually.  They served some of the best chowder in town.  The prices were reasonable and it’s one of the greatest rooms in town.

The reason I stopped going there over ten years ago and hadn’t gone back was because every single time I went in there I didn’t feel welcome at the bar.

I consider myself a “bar” person.  When I say this I don’t mean barfly type of person.  What I mean is that if the Mrs and I are out for dinner at a place that has a bar and table seating we will 90% of the time sit at the bar because we enjoy the social aspects of interacting with the bartenders, servers and other patrons.  It’s not that we are there to get hammered and as I get older I find myself drinking booze less and less.  It truly is all about the social aspects of it.

This particular place which will go unnamed was open last night and as the Mrs told me as I was leaving work that she wouldn’t have any dinner for me, she asked that I pick something up.  So I ordered take out and told Ed to meet me for a beer while I waited for my take out to be ready for pick up.

Well we went to this joint that I had long ago sworn off and wouldn’t you know that same vibe that existed ten and twenty years ago still was right there same as it ever was.   Not very busy and it took about five minutes to get a beer, whatever no big deal but asking what I’d like to drink was about the extent of the interaction I had with the entire staff despite sitting right at the end of the bar where the waitresses were passing by to pick up drinks one after another.

Let me just explain it for the owners of these places.  I may be the exception and not the rule but I can deal with so –so food.  I can deal with slightly above average prices IF you just go a little teeny tiny out of your way and make me feel welcome.

I’m not asking for a hand crank.  I’m not asking for a blowjob.  Just make me feel the slightest bit like you appreciate my business or want me there.  Because you know what?

THERE ARE WAY TOO MANY GREAT FUCKING RESTAURANTS IN THIS TOWN THAT DO JUST THAT. 

It’s part of the hospitality game.  I don’t care if you’ve been tending bar for 30 years and am burn out.  Act like a professional or get another job.  Or if you are the owner of this type of place and notice your staff isn’t interested in making your guests feel welcome, you might want to do a little motivational speaking and if that doesn’t work replace them.

This place should be doing at least double the business they are doing.

It  had been ten years since I’d stepped foot in there and it will be a whole lot longer til I go back.  I can assure you.

Thank you.

Who knows where Piscitello Square is located?  This memorial square is in honor of Sgt. Salvatore J. Piscitello who was killed in action while a member of D Co, 4th Bn, 9th Infantry, in South Vietnam on November 27, 1968.  He is remembered on the Vietnam Wall at Panel 38W Line 079.

There is also a SALVATORE J. PISCITELLO MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP given each year by the Friends of Sgt. Salvatore J. Piscitello in the amount of $200.00 to a Gloucester High School student exhibiting leadership, scholarship and character, with preference given to a student entering the technical field.

E.J. Lefavour

From: http://www.goines.net/Writing/what_is_artist.html

What is Art?

Is it a dumb Ocean Rock with Sharpie Drawing on it? or………….

“Obviously, an artist is someone who creates art, just a baker is someone who makes bread, and a plumber is someone who installs and repairs plumbing. These are simply trades and professions; that is, means by which different people make their livings.

Unlike plumbing or baking however, the difficulty lies in defining “art.” Art is pretty much whatever anybody says it is, and an artist is similarly anybody who says he is one. This leaves any definition of “artist” and “art” so vague as to be meaningless. Does the act of creation, be it ever so humble or idiosyncratic, suffice to allow one to lift the laurel of “artist” to his brow? Anybody can call himself anything, but the test is whether or not you actually are qualified. A plumber would not dare to call himself a plumber unless he were qualified in the opinion of others to do plumbing, and had experience and credentials to prove it, and actually got paid good money for his work. The same is true of an automobile mechanic, elementary school teacher or newspaper reporter. You can’t just call yourself a college professor or medical doctor and expect anyone to take you seriously. You need to have something to back it up. The term “artist,” unlike “electrician,” or “dog trainer,” neither conveys qualification, nor is it specific enough to shed much light on what a person may actually do.

There are classes of activities that often fall under the term “art,” such as the lively arts, the performing arts, and the like; thus a dancer could reasonably be called an artist within the context of dance. But if you were to ask a dancer what she does, and she were to reply, “I am an artist,” you would not be much the wiser concerning her activities. It would be far more illuminating for her to say, “I am a classical ballerina,” or “I am a choreographer.”

A person may be exceptionally good at something, so much so that he may be called “a culinary artist,” or “a musical artist,” or “a con artist.” This implies that he transcends the ordinary, and does something creative in his trade, so much so that by the standards of cooks, or con men, he is an “artist.” But it would be misleading for that person to say, “I am an artist,” when asked what he does for a living. Far better to say “I am a cook,” and …….

leave it to others to call you an artist.”

click below for more

http://www.goines.net/Writing/what_is_artist.html