Carol and I just returned from a couple of weeks away — way out west. We visited Montana and Idaho and after returning, every time we mention Idaho to our friends, their comments are followed by questions about potatoes. Is that all people think about when you mention Idaho?
Yes! We really did eat potatoes, and to tell you the truth, Idaho potatoes eaten in The Gem State really tasted great. No, it was not our imagination. In three separate restaurants, the baked potatoes were truly outstanding. I asked the manager of one of the Boise restaurants why the taters there tasted so much better than back home.
“Where is back home?” he asked. When I told him, his response sounded super-intelligent. “What you are eating now was picked very recently. They are a lot fresher. All fruits and vegetables taste better when they are fresher. It could take a couple of months before freshly picked potatoes get to your table. By then they taste different.”
Makes sense to me.
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In one restaurant I noticed something on the menu that I had never seen before: prairie oysters. These oysters have nothing to do with seafood. Do you know what they are?
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This is one of the very best deals in America.
Many months ago I applied for an American Advantage credit card. After three months I spent the necessary amount, paid my bills and received 40,000 miles. Likewise, Carol applied for and received an American Advantage credit card and also received an equal amount of miles. We used the cards for groceries, gas, clothing, and restaurants. In no time at all we had over 100,000 miles. The flight to our recent destination would have cost us over $700 each. Instead, we paid for the flights with 66,000 miles for the both of us. Not bad. Not bad at all.
By the way, there is no fee for these cards the first year. We have a lot of miles left over and are still shopping with those cards. At this very moment we have enough miles for another free round-trip flight. Our only problem is that we don’t know where we want to go next. Decisions, decision, decisions.
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By now, all of America has heard at least one side of the story about Arby’s and the police officer who may have been refused service. Did it really happen or was this a stupid joke blown out of proportion? Let’s change the main characters and start over. What if the server said something about not wanting to serve Jews and I was the Jew he tossed his anti-Semitic comments to? What do you think I should say?
I would have said “Thank You” and headed elsewhere.
“No! No! No! Come back. I was only kidding,” he would have said.
Really? There is no way that I could know if he was only kidding just as there is no way I would know if he would spit on my food. I would do exactly as Sgt. Jennifer Martin did: refuse his food and go elsewhere.
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A couple of years ago I wrote about it being against the law to bring ashore a piece of fruit from a cruise ship. People bring in Rubella, Syphillis, AIDS — but they must not bring in a banana. Those bananas are probably really dangerous.
I am StanG
