Category: Personal Reflections and Diary

TODAY’S CULTURAL ENRICHMENT

Restaurant. Lunch. Working. Working on Economics article of constitution. Hispanic group. Older. Grandmother, Grandfather, grandson. Cute kid. Start using facetime or something loud in restaurant. I wait five minutes. Apparently they think it’s ok. No, it’s not ok to talk on a phone, ipad, or computer in a public place at louder than a whisper. Ever. So I walk over, pat the man on the back, and say (in spanish) “This is for the home, not the restaurant. OK?” Says ok. Ten minutes pass. Nothing changes. I re-approach the table and say “Hey. Not ok. This isn’t a ghetto.” This does the job. They are finally behaving civilly. Thirty minutes pass. Woman comes in. Introduces herself, and starts complaining that I disciplined her family. I say yes i did. She tells me I don’t own the place. I say “I own the commons, I own the manners, and you don’t use telephones loud in a restaurant.” she starts withs ome excuse and I say “I choose to protect manners.” She leaves. Twenty minutes later Police. Local. “What happened?” told them. They give me the same drill. I say “well, it’s a commons, it’s my job like any other citizens to police the commons. I should say something to anyone littering and materially polluting in public and I should say something to anyone polluting the commons by their behavior. That’s our job. Manners are a commons”. “Oh, and it’s not like I threatened them.” he says “did you?” I say “of course not”. I said go ask the staff. The staff concurrs. …. Do you see what is happening? We must stop it. Every man a sheriff.