The Little Guy

Last Sunday my girlfriend and I were driving around Oceanside, California trying to find a restaurant to eat at. As usual, even for a Sunday, there was a 45 minute wait to get into Red Lobster, one of my rare treats that I do eat at occasionally. So we decided to get into the wilds and try to find a place we'd never been to before. I find that small, quiet, unknown greasy spoons tend to be my favorite place to eat when I can find them. There is a diner in San Diego that has been around now for over 50 years called Rudfords that stays open 24 hours a day that I love to eat at any time of the day. In Escondido there is a place called the Metaphor Cafe that I love to eat. It's kind of a diner/coffeehouse/pool hall all in one that I found by accident, just looking for a place to eat in places you wouldn't expect. On this particular Sunday, we weren't in such luck. We drove around for an hour and a half and couldn't find anything that wasn't either expensive or inviting or that wasn't a franchise or some sort of cheap imitation of a franchise. We did find a Brazillian steakhouse, but it seemed too expensive and there were a gaggle of people waiting outside. I didn't feel like fighting people and I didn't feel like going to Denny's, although I love that particular eating establishment, too. Along the way we found plenty of franchises being built. I seem to find fewer and fewer of the older, more original places being bought out by La Salsa, TOGO, Cold Stone, Rubio's, etc. I'd rather eat at Rudford's, the Metaphor Cafe or a good taco shop any time than give my money over to a bunch of money-grubbing franchises. I was rather dismayed by this sudden realization, that all the good, old-time restaurants were going under and the only way to stay alive is to sell out to survive. The people who are hurting are the small, single businesses. Who's going to go to Cate's Creamery when they can go to Cold Stone or Baskin Robbin's and get the 31 flavors they've known for years? Part of the problem is that I'd say a good degree of the time you don't know when to trust the unknown restaurants. There are occasions where I eat at a new one and I'm ready to put up a sign outside that says "Don't Eat Here." But I'd still rather give to the small business owner if I can. Case in point: coffeehouses. I've covered this elsewhere on this site. Starbucks is a great place for coffee, not ambience. I've never had bad service at a Starbucks and the coffee is always good. And, since Starbucks is taking over the world, they are everywhere. I can find one just about anywhere in the world that I've been, with the exception of Villa Ridge, MO, but that's ok. I have a coffeemaker for that one. I love Starbucks, but I hate what it represents: global greed. However, on their side, they do make damn good coffee. I'll admit, most of the small business owners who own coffeehouses do not know how to make coffee. It's not good and it's usually overpriced, too. At least at Starbucks there is a level of quality that is achieved every time I go. Overall, the idea here is that there aren't any good places anymore that aren't being run out of town by these big corporations. What Jim Goad says is right. We're fighting a battle of class here and slowly but surely, the middle class is going away, even if it does take years. In California, I don't know how people pay for this lifestyle. I know that I've grown rather numb to it all. It costs lots of $$$ to do anything anymore. The other night it was $19 for my girlfriend and I to go to a movie at the mall. That is outrageous. Looking at apartments, they are almost all between $900-1000 a month just for a one bedroom. Gas is overpriced. Everyone wants you to pay more for things you have to have. It's all becoming way too expensive. I want to move out to the boonies, even if there isn't a Starbucks down the street or you have to drive an hour to get to the nearest movie theater. I'll rent movies, drink coffee at home and make my own food from the hometown grocery store. This is all after my two year stint left in the Navy, of course.