BRANSON, MO. \u00e2\u20ac\u201dThe only things we ordered at an Irish pub in Branson, Mo., last week were a couple of chicken Philly sandwiches, a Ruben and spaghetti. It began as no big deal. But it grew.<\/p>\n
Let me explain:<\/p>\n
My son, Diego and his wife, Connie, joined Bonnie and me for lunch in downtown Branson. We were in the final days of a mini-vacation with the Coppock side of the family. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d visited many restaurants, but never before had we been regarded with such obsequiousness. Never. We summoned the waiter to our sidewalk table, telling him we were ready to order our drinks.<\/p>\n
Here\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s how some of the exchanges went:<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Waiter!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Anon, anon, sir. I wish I could have arrived at your table five minutes before you needed me.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
As a language person, I counted five uses of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sorry,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153forgive me,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153no problem\u00e2\u20ac\u009d before he brought our Cokes. And as he returned, he apologized several more times for 1) being late with them (which he most certainly wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t); 2) failing to bring straws (which were a matter of no importance; and 3) forgetting to ask us if we wanted lots of ice or just a little.<\/p>\n
We thought it might have been an act, and I recalled a time in my childhood when a school mate I often walked to school with, became such a consummate apologizer that I wanted to kick him. And that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s rare for me, as, given a choice, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d ask to be the kickee, not the kicker.<\/p>\n
But let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s get back to the sidewalk restaurant. Were our Missouri waiter\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mannerisms cleverly designed to earn him bigger tips? Those at the table thought that might be the case, but the waiter\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fawning become annoying. We almost agreed: No more than 10 cents tip for this man.<\/p>\n
You see, we were capable of unwrapping our own straws (the ones he brought 10 seconds late). I usually follow that action by blowing the wrapper at whichever son is near. Have you ever been in a situation in which the other person does everything for you, almost literally not allowing you to lift a finger?<\/p>\n
I believe the fawning waiter even apologized for excessive subservience. An apology \u00e2\u20ac\u201d whether deserved or merely contrived \u00e2\u20ac\u201d invariably requires acknowledgement, a mention that whatever offense the apologizer committed wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t egregious enough to require papal absolution. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s almost easier to assure the apologizing waiter that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153no problem,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d which is becoming the very popular substitute for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re welcome,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d especially among young people.<\/p>\n
Along with the subservience of the waiter, who might have gone home that day with a stash of tips wrought by the very act of being, well, subservient, we became party to yet another form of exchange among strangers. This happens everywhere, but a full-fledged discussion of its effects came out in Branson. Let me explain this too:<\/p>\n
In Branson, a mini-mini Vegas, traffic lines are long, and as it rains constantly, the behemoth SUVs go even slower. Bonnie, when driving, generally lets every creature in Western Civilization through (she gives them a cut in traffic). Letting someone go in front of you in traffic might not thrill those behind you, but it does wonders for the cutter and cuttee (the one who lets someone\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s SUV slide in, and the recipient). And usually there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an acknowledgement.<\/p>\n
But with the proliferation of darkened windows, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re never sure whether the beneficiary of the good deed made a signal, ignored our magnanimity, or flipped us off, for being unnecessarily generous.<\/p>\n
It was in a heavy rain, on our way to a museum where my grandson and namesake used the term \u00e2\u20ac\u0153mano suelta,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d a term he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d learned in Spanish class which loosely translated means \u00e2\u20ac\u0153loose hand.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d He noticed that whenever someone in traffic allowed us to cut in line, I made sure the good Samaritan received our acknowledgement by rolling down my passenger\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s side window and waving. I think that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s good policy and it forestalls road rage.<\/p>\n
Usually, a friendly wave or thumbs up does the job, and it obviates the need to hold up other traffic as we participants stop in order to swap pleasantries.<\/p>\n
True, performing such an action in a downpour tends to wetten the passengers a smidgen, but I think the gesture reaps rewards. Then Arthur Roland said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Well, Pompah, why didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t you get out of the car, get on your knees, say a prayer of thanksgiving and tell the driver you hope to become his best friend?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Well, my grandson\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s bit of irony jolted me, but it made me realize that often when we use \u00e2\u20ac\u0153phatic\u00e2\u20ac\u009d communication such as a wave or a nod, we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t necessarily enslave ourselves into joining these people for coffee, crumpets, conversation and church services twice a week.<\/p>\n
So, if you see me downtown, executing the mano suelta maneuver, please know it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s my way of acknowledging a courtesy. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s neither a challenge nor an act of servility.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2\u00e2\u20ac\u201a\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2\u00e2\u20ac\u201a\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2<\/p>\n
A previous column discussed a flea market that used to be on the lot opposite the old Safeway store at Mills Plaza. For a long time, the sign read, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153People\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s flee Market.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d My urge was to photograph my three much-younger sons running from the place, their faces showing terror, their arms waving, their eyes glazed.<\/p>\n
But the trouble was that such a staged photo-op would have required them to run on to the street, Mills Avenue, so we never got the photo.<\/p>\n
Last week, I received a photo from Kathryn Newton, a long-time resident of Golondrinas, who noted the misspelling of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153flea.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d The photo she took shows a large empty area with no one in sight.<\/p>\n
Apparently, potential customers followed orders and decided to flee the market.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2<\/p>\n
And what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s with the sign at the counter at the Abe Montoya Rec Center? It reads: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Smile: You are being videotape.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d When did teachers decide that units on past participles were unnecessary?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BRANSON, MO. \u00e2\u20ac\u201dThe only things we ordered at an Irish pub in Branson, Mo., last week were a couple of chicken Philly sandwiches, a Ruben and spaghetti. It began as no big deal. But it grew. Let me explain: My son, Diego and his wife, Connie, joined Bonnie and me for lunch in downtown Branson. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1105"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1105"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1105\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1106,"href":"https:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1105\/revisions\/1106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}