A story near and dear to my heart: both because it happened in Taylorsville, Utah, relatively near my town of Tooele, and because it involved a very large Pacific Islander couple on the Atkins diet. I have to wonder if their race, due to popular stereotypes of Pacific Islanders as having prodigious appetites, and their noteworthy girth figured into the manager’s decision to kick them out?
No-carb eating couple booted from buffet
That all-you-can-eat buffet isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. “The Choice Is Yours at Chuck-A-Rama” should be “The Choice Is Yours as long as you’re finished when we want you to be”. And yet…
“It’s so embarrassing actually,” said Isabelle Leota, Amaama’s wife. “We went in to have dinner, we were under the impression Chuck-A-Rama was an all-you-can-eat establishment.”
Not so, said Jack Johanson, the restaurant chain’s district manager.
“We’ve never claimed to be an all-you-can-eat establishment,” said Johanson. “Our understanding is a buffet is just a style of eating.”
I listened to some people who claimed to be there on the radio Friday Morning, and, according to rumor, the couple had been there for three hours, had exclusively eaten meat (mostly the roast beef) during that time, and had visited the carving area over a dozen times. Depending on who you believe, the manager asked them to leave because they’d stayed far too long, or asked them to leave because he’d watched them visit the roast beef station several dozen times. The manager was the one carving the beef. Regardless, their refusal to leave for not getting a refund was apparently the cause of the police being called and it making national news 🙂
I’m not sure whether to be ticked off or just laugh my head off about it. Sticking around at a buffet for three hours, I can understand, particularly with a large party of friends. Eating enough meat in that time to cause the manager to ask you to leave because the other patrons can’t have any roast beef? I’m not sure who to believe, but it’s funny!
Believe it or not, this made the World front page on CNN!
Oh, one more thing: Happy birthday to me. I’m thirty-one today. Ugh, I feel old. I’ve edited this since I posted it… I spent last night in agony in my ribcage. Saw the doc this morning, he said my heart couldn’t be better though my second number for my blood pressure (118/92) seemed strangely high, and that my rib cage’s cartilage is inflamed. I knew it didn’t feel like a heart attack, but it kept me up ’till 4:30 AM because of the pain. Whee! Here’s a birthday song I made up:
Happy Hapy Birthday
You’re looking pretty stout!
Have one more slice of birthday cake
And fill those trousers out!
The BP
The second number is your diasolic blood pressure..
This is the pressure of blood against the walls of your arteries while when your heart is at rest.
It is considered high when it is above 90, but 92 isn’t unbelievably high. You should make a point to get it rechecked (or do a check at the local drugstore or pharmacy that has an auto BP machine).
Either way, happy birthday to you, Matt!
Wal-Mart
Yep, I frequently check it at Wal-Mart; my average over the last few weeks has been around 120/80 (give or tak points, you know how that goes). I figure it was so high at the Dr. because, well, I’m very nervous and agitated whenever I’m in a doctor’s office 🙂
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Matthew P. Barnson