| RATINGS
(out
of 5)
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 1/2 |
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Now
that I am caught up on my reviews, it feels as if a big weight
has been lifted off of my shoulders. The guilt is gone, the
sun is rising - it is a new day. In order to celebrate this
new birth, I felt it was only appropriate to go back to my Eatin'
Out roots. You may recall our visit to the TA
Travel Center last year. Right across the highway from TA
is yet another mecca of trucker culture - Sun Power Travel Center.
Formerly known as "Border Cowboy", this locally-owned
truck stop takes pride in its uniqueness. Merely the mentioning
of TA prompted our waitress to sassily retort, "We are
not associated with TA - we are much better!"
And there was alot to substantiate this claim. The walls were
made completely from fake wood paneling - an obvious retro look
from the late 70s. But their shabby chic decor didn't stop there.
They brought in some authentic torn up seats
that were recovered from an Ardmore, OK Waffle House from the
Carter era. Water-filled
baggies with a penny were peppered around the ceiling in hopes
of scaring away flies. But the best part of this place is their
valient attempts at great sociological change. Before going
in, Russ expressed his hope that we could sit in the "trucker's
only" section - to his surprise, there was no such distinction.
Sun Power had taken the socially conscious and progressive act
of dismantling such discrimination from within its walls. Not
only could truckers and non-truckers alike sit side by side
and enjoy their eggs and grits, but smokers and non-smokers
were also brought together without the usual sections that so
often divide their fellowship. Yes, love and community is in
the air at Sun Power - after all, that is what you would expect
from the power of the sun.
The
choices on the menu were what you would expect from a truck
stop - all day breakfast options, grilled sandwiches, fried
everything, chili, and homestyle favorites. The menu even boasted
that they were a proud provider of "Folgers" coffee
(look out Starbucks!). Henry and Gloria both had to make last
second switches to their orders. Henry, enticed by the menu's
claim that they are famous for their chicken fried steak, set
his mind to ordering it only to be told by the waitress that
it isn't homeade. "How can you be famous for something
that you didn't make?" Henry asked before ordering the
ham and cheese sandwich with a side of
fried mushrooms. Gloria, too, was forced to reconsider her order.
Initially interested in ordering a box of Fruit Loops and an
english muffin (notice how much safer this choice was compared
with her last meal at a truck stop), Gloria changed to toast
and jelly with grits after being informed that they were
out of dry cereal. Russ and I knew what we wanted and got what
we wanted - a bacon cheesburger with
tots for Russ and a patty melt with
tots for me. Once the food arrived, Henry looked at Russ and
I and said, "Dude, give me some tots!" and worked
out a 1 or 1 exchange of fried mushroom for tots.
There
are two issues that I would like to focus my attention on -
and they involve Henry and Gloria. Let me begin with Gloria.
Everyone has got to feel for this gal - hanging out with 3 men
with strong personalities on a weekly basis at establishments
that are usually not her cup of tea. But I must say she has
adjusted quite well and has established some excellent survival
techniques. A year ago, when we went to a truck stop, Gloria
ordered chili and rated TA accordingly. But this year at Sun
Power, Gloria decides that she is going to order "safe".
By ordering toast, packaged jelly, and grits, there is very
little room for danger and very high room for lunchtime satisfaction.
I appreciate that she has found a way to love the unlovable
- just check out her rating for this week.
Now
on to Henry - I wish I could commend him as I did Gloria, but
I cannot. You see, Henry is treading in some very dangerous
ideological water - a fact that came out during our lunch at
Sun Power. You can remember last semester when I accused Henry
of being a "flip-flopper" in regard to his ratings.
We all thought that this was just a temporary lapse in judgment
that would soon pass with the former Democratic presidential
candidate. But I am afraid that that incident was merely a symptom
of something much worse. A simple side comment Henry threw out
this week in regard to our rating system is cause for great
concern. "You simply cannot compare truck stop food with
Mexican food," Henry exclaimed. What he was advocating
was the idea that there is no universal standard of excellence
when it comes to restaurant ratings - what's true for one type
of food is not necessarily true for another type of food. Sound
familiar? It's RELATIVISM and it is a nasty product of post-modern
thinking that is plaguing the mind of today's youth. Who would
have guessed it had even taken hold of the mind of one of our
beloved Hall Directors? Sure, it sounds harmless to be relativistic
when it comes to restaurant ratings, but that thinking gets
in like a cancer and takes over every thought. Before long,
Henry will be loosey-goosey with universal standards of ultimate
concern, reading Nietzche in his free time, and espousing the
non-existent tenents of nihilism at every turn. If I was a student
who wanted to engage in some TAMS policy-breaking behavior,
now would be the time to do it. Then I'd make sure I got Henry
as my appeal agent and I'd appeal to him with similar relativism.
I'd say, "Henry, that Handbook may be true for you, but
it is not true for me!"
Yes,
this is of some concern - but I would be horrified if Henry
was actually consistent to his relativism. He claims to rate
his restaurants within the scope and purpose of other restaurants
of that kind. This is relativism, but let's assume it for the
sake of argument. In that case, the Sun Power restaurant would
be judged next to the other truck stops that Henry has eaten
at. As far as we know, Henry has only eaten at two truck stops
- TA and Sun Power. Let's look at those ratings - he gave TA
one star and Sun Power 1.5 stars. This is quite peculiar given
his claims to be relativistic in restuaurant ratings. Either
there exists somewhere in Henry's past or mind a perfect
standard (relatively speaking) of truck stop restaurants and
he can point to something greater somewhere (thus, making sense
of such low ratings for both of these truck stops), or he is
actually comparing them not to the standard of truck stops -
which would be in line with his relativism - but to some other
standard, a standard beyond the category of truckstops.
If the former is the case, then Henry needs to take us to this
perfect truck stop by which he so poorly rates these two. If,
on the other hand, the latter is the case, then Henry is inconsistent
with his own stated standard. Needless to say, further inquiry
is needed in order to understand Henry's position - and you'll
be sure to read about it next week. Until then, don't trust
him with anything important - Nihilists don't care about anything!
