We can all agree on one thing: the problem with America today is that everybody is too polite. It’s annoying! Everywhere you go, it’s strangers tipping their hats to you as they walk down the sidewalk, whistling a jaunty tune. Drivers on roadways insisting that you go ahead of them, and then giving you a smile and a wave. Store clerks and waiters earnestly thanking you for their business. And it’s got to stop.
Luckily, New York Times writer Nick Bilton is on the case. In an article that he will probably one day regret writing, the technology journalist rails against the habit that threatens to destroy the very fabric of American civilization as we know it:
Some people are so rude. Really, who sends an e-mail or text message that just says “Thank you”? Who leaves a voice mail message when you don’t answer, rather than texting you? Who asks for a fact easily found on Google? Don’t these people realize that they’re wasting your time?
Finally. It’s about time someone said it: basic human decency is a complete waste of time, and people who exhibit even a passing concern for others’ feelings are destroying America, not to mention personally offending Nick Bilton — which is, let’s be honest, the worst crime of all.
2. Incendies joins Of Gods and Men and Even the Rain as one of my favorite films of the year. It is French-Canadian, set in Lebanon, and involves a journey of family discovery; I read it as an explicitly Christian movie.
Last week, I had two very enjoyable “Restaurant Week” lunches with my haute-cuisine partner at Beacon and La Goulue…
The plank-wood roasted oysters at Beacon are worth a return trip! Sorry to report that the peach melba at La Goulue was sub-par because it was Libby’s canned peaches, mon dieu! But I loved their grilled squid on a bed of fresh green salad as a starter and the pan-seared striped bass. A glass of the house-white cost $13. Mon dieu! At Beacon, two glasses of a muscadet and a red cost $6!
Lunch at La Goulue was very fabuloso with all the beautiful people… I started with a plate of grilled calamari (squid) on a bed of green salad. Very well prepared with the correct squid texture and a fine salad dressing. Next was a plate of pan-seared striped bass on a bed on potatoes and a orange-squash sauce. Very well prepared dish with very fresh fish, moist and not over-seared. Finally a peach melba … canned peaches, mon dieu!!! I thought I was eating at Howard Johnson’s somewhere in the Deep South … a glass of house white cost $13 … not going back … I think that Jean-George’s Jojo or Nougatine is much better for their food and desserts…
Over the conversation with my haute-cuisine lunch partner, I suddenly realised that these happy times will be over next year. My lunch partner will be retiring from his professional job! We will celebrate this joyous occasion on his last train ride back to Westport with a party-ceremony to burn his final monthly Metro-North card!!! The Age of Aquarius and Let the Sun Shine, Let the Sun Shine… Living well is the best revenge… Beacon, web site, 25 West 56th Street, New York, 212-332-0500 [NY Mag | MenuPages | Gayot | NYT | savory NY | Yelp | Gayot] La Goulue, web site, 746 Madison Avenue, between 64th and 65th Streets, New York, 212-988-8169 [NYT | MenuPages | NY Mag | Yelp]
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