Joe and I went for a ride today up to Mt. Rainier with our friends, Rick and Lori. It was, for the record an absolutely stunning day. Sunny, warm with pretty, white, fluffy clouds decorating the sky. A perfect day to roll along on a motorcycle taking in views of the mountains, rivers and sky. We travelled along, stopping where ever we liked, taking pictures and enjoying the day and each other's company. Yeah, perfect is a good word for today.
I bet you're wondering where the 'Lesson' part comes in. Towards the end of the day, we decided to stop and get something to eat. We pulled over at a tavern bearing a sign that read 'Naches' somewhere along route 410 before Enumclaw as we came down off the mountain. We walked in, found a table and settled in. And waited. And waited some more. Now, I should point out here that, the place was almost empty. There were about 5 or 6 people in the bar, and at least 2 of them were employees. Rick and Joe got up and went to the bar to get drinks and menus. Rick came back with drinks. Joe came back a few minutes later and said he was getting a weird vibe, and that the bartender had looked right at him and not served him. Joe said "It actually feels like a racist vibe." For those of you who don't know him, my husband is clearly not white, but not of any obvious enthnicity. We looked around and noticed that, indeed everyone in the bar but Joe was indeed white. A couple sitting a few tables away from us was served their food by the bartender. She didn't even acknowledge our presence. Hmmm. So we waited for Rick and Lori to finish their drinks, then got up and left.
Not too much further down the road was another tavern we knew of, The Yella Beak, in Enumclaw. Quite a different story. We were welcomed as we walked in, staff was friendly and prompt and the food! Oh my! Yummy good, and lots of it. In short, eat at The Yella Beak! You'll be happy, you're belly will be happy and your wallet will be happy. Oh, and go on Thursdays. They're giving away a Harley-Davidson and you can get tickets to win it on Thursdays.
You're still wondering about the lesson, huh? Okay. Did you notice our reaction at the first tavern? Yeah, that's right, there wasn't one. Instead of making a scene, we just got up and took our money elsewhere. I said to Joe as we were riding away "They have to work to get us to spend our money in their establishment. We've already worked hard enough to earn it, spending it should be the fun and easy part." It might seem simple, and maybe less viscerally satisfying than making a scene, but in the end, who's going to win? We did, for one. We avoided all the stress of making a big fuss (and isn't life stressful enough already?), the 'Naches' tavern on 410 lost our money. We were really hungry too. Instead we took our business to The Yella Beak and had a great meal. After a great ride. Yep, a perfect day.
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