One of the many things I loved about the book The Phantom Tollbooth was that in Dictionapolis, everyone had to literally eat their words.
…The waiters reappeared immediately, carrying heavy, hot trays, which they set on the table. Each one contained the exact words spoken by the various guests, and they all began eating with great gusto.
“Dig in,” said the king, poking Milo with his elbow and looking disapprovingly at his plate. “I can’t say that I think much of your choice.”
“I didn’t know I was going to have to eat my words,” objected Milo.
“Of course, of course, everyone here does,” the king grunted. “You should have made a tastier speech.”
Cookie Monster was much more into letters than words, but he does seem to enjoy nomming the letter “C “(a lot).
I am much more traditional, choosing to limit my intake to foods that are organic in origin. However, I do believe in walking my talk, or in this case, eating my values.
After I scheduled the next #PDXBreakfast at the Morningstar Cafe, Bryan Stearns said the following:
I’m opting out of visiting Morningstar Cafe — they’re one of the restaurants complaining (to the city and in the news) about food carts, crying “unfair competition!” (I know, the carts should get permits for add-on structures, and the rules are different for carts, but I don’t like their whining, and would as soon eat elsewhere. See you next time (or you could pick somewhere different for the 18th – capiche?)
To which I responded:
Thanks for the tip. I hadn’t caught that Morningstar Cafe was anti-foodcart. Foodcarts are a (relatively) low-cost entry-point for entrepreneurs in the food industry. Given the rapid market growth of food carts in Portland, I had hoped restaurateurs (especially those with well-established businesses) would recognize the benefits of coopetition and support their fellow business owners. I am disappointed to learn that the owners of the Morningstar Cafe are not seeing the big picture when it comes to economic development in downtown Portland.
I support every business-owner’s right to his/her own opinions and to publicly express that opinion to the Powers that Be. I also support every individual’s right to choose where to spend one’s money. So, as the de-facto Power that Is for #PDXBreakfast (at least until J-P pulls my access to this blog), I am going to relocate November 18th’s #PDXBreakfast to Mother’s Bistro at 212 SW Stark.
If you are just scanning this email, please take note that the venue for the November 18th #PDXBreakfast has changed to Mother’s Bistro at 212 SW Stark. Time is still the same: 8:30am.
