Addendum
Last night the Snarkosaurus and I went to dinner at Le Pigeon, a very snazzy Portland restaurant, because Snarkosaurus had a magic coupon for $25 off any two entrees. Nice, right? We arrived and found out that we would have to wait for about 30 to 45 minutes for a table. The hostess took down my phone number and told me she'd call us. We went to go browse through a few vintage clothing shops in the area.
Then we heard shouting.
We noticed a large crowd of people had gathered on the street. They were chanting loudly in unison. At first I thought (hoped) that they were some kind of absurdist flash mob, because I couldn't actually make out what they were saying. It sounded a little like "fuck your boyfriend".
They were actually talking about foie gras, and they were yelling at our restaurant. And by that I mean they were yelling into the restaurant. With a bull horn. Through the mail slot. Whenever a customer would walk in or out, they would scream obscenities at them.
Le Pigeon, by the way, has two small items on the menu that contain foie gras. It's not exactly a foie-gras-apalooza in there.
I was incredibly pissed off by this. I believe that production of foie gras is an inherently cruel process. I have never consumed foie gras, and I probably never will. But I don't really think that it helps any geese to yell at a bunch of people and employees who happen to be in the vicinity of foie gras, most of whom won't be ordering it, many of whom (like me) consider their choice not to consume certain products an effective message towards chefs and various meat industries.
In Chicago, animal activists got a position signed, got a vote on the ballot, and had foie gras banned in the city. The bill was eventually repealed, but by being civil and rational, the Chicago activists managed to educate and convince a lot of people.
I would have been perfectly happy if a few activists had been standing around in front of the restaurant, politely handing out anti foie gras pamphlets to people entering and leaving the restaurant. People should be educated about the choices they're making as a consumer. But it's still ultimately up to them to make their own choices.
The Nike-wearing douches outside of Le Pigeon last night were just being assholes for the sake of being assholes.
Eventually the cops came and convinced the protesters to shuffle off. Because A) they didn't have a permit and B) they were actively harassing and intimidating other citizens. And then the restaurant called to tell us our table was ready. So we ended up with dinner and a show.
I had a delicious dinner at Le Pigeon. The food, the atmosphere, and the staff were all lovely. And I ordered the vegetarian entree.
Seriously, fuck those guys.
Later that night, I went to the pub to welcome L. back to Portland. Afterward we wandered over to Z.'s birthday party. Eventually I ended up back home.
Between the berry-picking, the protesters, the delicious dinner, and the shindigs, I'd say that yesterday was a pretty amazing day.
Then we heard shouting.
We noticed a large crowd of people had gathered on the street. They were chanting loudly in unison. At first I thought (hoped) that they were some kind of absurdist flash mob, because I couldn't actually make out what they were saying. It sounded a little like "fuck your boyfriend".
They were actually talking about foie gras, and they were yelling at our restaurant. And by that I mean they were yelling into the restaurant. With a bull horn. Through the mail slot. Whenever a customer would walk in or out, they would scream obscenities at them.
Le Pigeon, by the way, has two small items on the menu that contain foie gras. It's not exactly a foie-gras-apalooza in there.
I was incredibly pissed off by this. I believe that production of foie gras is an inherently cruel process. I have never consumed foie gras, and I probably never will. But I don't really think that it helps any geese to yell at a bunch of people and employees who happen to be in the vicinity of foie gras, most of whom won't be ordering it, many of whom (like me) consider their choice not to consume certain products an effective message towards chefs and various meat industries.
In Chicago, animal activists got a position signed, got a vote on the ballot, and had foie gras banned in the city. The bill was eventually repealed, but by being civil and rational, the Chicago activists managed to educate and convince a lot of people.
I would have been perfectly happy if a few activists had been standing around in front of the restaurant, politely handing out anti foie gras pamphlets to people entering and leaving the restaurant. People should be educated about the choices they're making as a consumer. But it's still ultimately up to them to make their own choices.
The Nike-wearing douches outside of Le Pigeon last night were just being assholes for the sake of being assholes.
Eventually the cops came and convinced the protesters to shuffle off. Because A) they didn't have a permit and B) they were actively harassing and intimidating other citizens. And then the restaurant called to tell us our table was ready. So we ended up with dinner and a show.
I had a delicious dinner at Le Pigeon. The food, the atmosphere, and the staff were all lovely. And I ordered the vegetarian entree.
Seriously, fuck those guys.
Later that night, I went to the pub to welcome L. back to Portland. Afterward we wandered over to Z.'s birthday party. Eventually I ended up back home.
Between the berry-picking, the protesters, the delicious dinner, and the shindigs, I'd say that yesterday was a pretty amazing day.