On Sunday morning I got out of bed around 8 am and toddled into the kitchen for coffee. Daughter spied me from the livingroom and immediately cried out "Daddy, daddy........come and see!!!!!!!!".
Her excitement was so evident that I detoured from the Temple of Caffeine to check out what miracle had caught her eye, arriving in the livingroom I was a bit confused by daughter's huge grin and pointing at the wide open blinds, until I realized the miracle that was............ sunshine and blue sky.
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Saturday, February 04, 2006
Random Act of Kindness
Last night at work an unusual event occurred.
Couple sitting at table 24, he's mid thirties and ordinary she's late twenties and drop dead gorgeous, are enjoying a grazing meal and nice bottle of red wine. They are engaging without being high maintenance and easy to serve, asking a couple of questions but obviously seasoned diners.
As I offer the dessert card they ask about the table sitting in front of them, another couple with similar demographics,
"So what's the deal?" he asks "Do you think it's an anniversary?"
"I don't think so" I reply "I'm sure they would have mentioned a special occasion when booking."
"Well we think they look really cute together, and are obviously enjoying their evening out" he says "can you just add their bill to mine? Oh and don't tell them"
"Sure" I reply, a bit taken aback.
"Great" he says "just bring us the cheque please"
I bring the, now larger, bill and he hands me a card. I run the card through and return it.
"That's a lovely gesture" I remark
"Yeah, well sometimes you just have to do nice things" she says.
"If they ask just tell them the pretty blonde sitting behind them wanted to buy them dinner" he says.
They leave and I clear the billfold which contains the expected large tip, I mean if they're gonna pick up a $200 tab for strangers chances are they are good tippers.
Fifteen minutes or so later I clear "Lucky Couple" and offer desserts, they decline but order two glasses of port. They enjoy the port and when I offer a refill they decline and ask for the cheque. I bring the bill and tell them the story, as requested.
They are obviously shocked but handle it well, very well for me as he drops $100 cash for a $21 tab, and upon leaving the woman says
"We've decided to "pay it forward", the next time we see something we feel deserves it we're going to buy them dinner, or buy the kid in the Toy store the thing he/she is admiring - who knows maybe it will catch on"
If random acts of kindness catch on I think we'll all be better off for it.
PS - when I related this story to my co-workers most of the female ones went " aah what a sweet story", most of the male co-workers were confused or implied that there must be something sexual at work, "probably swingers" said sommelier.
Convinced that this was a gender gap I was surprised, but probably shouldn't have been, when wife and jaded friend's take was that it was all some elaborate role-playing game which ended up with both couples in the sack.
So much for Random Acts of Kindness - most people wouldn't believe them anyway.
Couple sitting at table 24, he's mid thirties and ordinary she's late twenties and drop dead gorgeous, are enjoying a grazing meal and nice bottle of red wine. They are engaging without being high maintenance and easy to serve, asking a couple of questions but obviously seasoned diners.
As I offer the dessert card they ask about the table sitting in front of them, another couple with similar demographics,
"So what's the deal?" he asks "Do you think it's an anniversary?"
"I don't think so" I reply "I'm sure they would have mentioned a special occasion when booking."
"Well we think they look really cute together, and are obviously enjoying their evening out" he says "can you just add their bill to mine? Oh and don't tell them"
"Sure" I reply, a bit taken aback.
"Great" he says "just bring us the cheque please"
I bring the, now larger, bill and he hands me a card. I run the card through and return it.
"That's a lovely gesture" I remark
"Yeah, well sometimes you just have to do nice things" she says.
"If they ask just tell them the pretty blonde sitting behind them wanted to buy them dinner" he says.
They leave and I clear the billfold which contains the expected large tip, I mean if they're gonna pick up a $200 tab for strangers chances are they are good tippers.
Fifteen minutes or so later I clear "Lucky Couple" and offer desserts, they decline but order two glasses of port. They enjoy the port and when I offer a refill they decline and ask for the cheque. I bring the bill and tell them the story, as requested.
They are obviously shocked but handle it well, very well for me as he drops $100 cash for a $21 tab, and upon leaving the woman says
"We've decided to "pay it forward", the next time we see something we feel deserves it we're going to buy them dinner, or buy the kid in the Toy store the thing he/she is admiring - who knows maybe it will catch on"
If random acts of kindness catch on I think we'll all be better off for it.
PS - when I related this story to my co-workers most of the female ones went " aah what a sweet story", most of the male co-workers were confused or implied that there must be something sexual at work, "probably swingers" said sommelier.
Convinced that this was a gender gap I was surprised, but probably shouldn't have been, when wife and jaded friend's take was that it was all some elaborate role-playing game which ended up with both couples in the sack.
So much for Random Acts of Kindness - most people wouldn't believe them anyway.
Friday, February 03, 2006
The Problem with Parker
In a comment on my most recent wine post Gimlet brings up Robert Parker and the dilemna he poses in the wine industry.
For those of you who are not aware of Robert Parker he is the author of "The Wine Advocate", a wine review he started in 1978, yes they actually made wine way back then. Parker had a small cult following among wine enthusiasts until he declared the 1982 Bordeaux vintage as "superb" - flying in the face of most established critics who questioned the vintage's lack of acidity and over ripeness. The line was drawn and Parker's influence was felt by the huge increase in Bordeaux prices for the '82 vintage.
I subscribed to the "Advocate" in the '80's but stopped when it became apparent that Mr. Parker and I had widely disparate views on wine - he loves the fruitbombs while I require more acidity and less ripeness in my wine. All fine and good - we disagree. Robert Parker has a very specific vision of what wine should be and his criteria has been extremely consistent for over 25 years - fruit first, ripe, lush fruit before all else, and that is fine. As with Gimlet I often enjoy the less expensive end of the "Parker wines" because their simplicity makes them easy drinking.
The problem is that Mr. Parker's influence is now so strong that he is changing the way wine is made, winemakers the world round know that the magic 90 points from Parker means financial success and so they are deliberately structuring their wines to meet Mr. Parker's "fruit first" conditions. A whole new generation of sommeliers and wine buyers are convinced that these wines are the only wines to sell and promote and that is just wrong.
The wine world requires diversity, we need "fruit bombs" and "big tannic monsters" and "lean acidic little bastard" wines to all be made and appreciated. The other problem I find with the "Parker wines" is that the fruit forward component makes these wines unlikely to age well, which of course plays well in our "immediate gratification" society.
Robert Parker expresses only the opinion of one man, and one with no formal wine education it might be added, and the fact that one man's opinion is changing an industry I love is disturbing to me.
Think globally - drink diversely.
For those of you who are not aware of Robert Parker he is the author of "The Wine Advocate", a wine review he started in 1978, yes they actually made wine way back then. Parker had a small cult following among wine enthusiasts until he declared the 1982 Bordeaux vintage as "superb" - flying in the face of most established critics who questioned the vintage's lack of acidity and over ripeness. The line was drawn and Parker's influence was felt by the huge increase in Bordeaux prices for the '82 vintage.
I subscribed to the "Advocate" in the '80's but stopped when it became apparent that Mr. Parker and I had widely disparate views on wine - he loves the fruitbombs while I require more acidity and less ripeness in my wine. All fine and good - we disagree. Robert Parker has a very specific vision of what wine should be and his criteria has been extremely consistent for over 25 years - fruit first, ripe, lush fruit before all else, and that is fine. As with Gimlet I often enjoy the less expensive end of the "Parker wines" because their simplicity makes them easy drinking.
The problem is that Mr. Parker's influence is now so strong that he is changing the way wine is made, winemakers the world round know that the magic 90 points from Parker means financial success and so they are deliberately structuring their wines to meet Mr. Parker's "fruit first" conditions. A whole new generation of sommeliers and wine buyers are convinced that these wines are the only wines to sell and promote and that is just wrong.
The wine world requires diversity, we need "fruit bombs" and "big tannic monsters" and "lean acidic little bastard" wines to all be made and appreciated. The other problem I find with the "Parker wines" is that the fruit forward component makes these wines unlikely to age well, which of course plays well in our "immediate gratification" society.
Robert Parker expresses only the opinion of one man, and one with no formal wine education it might be added, and the fact that one man's opinion is changing an industry I love is disturbing to me.
Think globally - drink diversely.
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