Monday, November 24, 2008

Things that Irritate Me

I don't know if I've done a "things that irritate me" post before, but here's one.

You go into a restaurant that markets itself as an ethnic restaurant. Mexican. Thai. Chinese. Whatever.

And you hear American pop music over the sound system.

Seriously. My brother and sister-in-law, and my wife and I went to a Vietnamese restaurant in St. Louis years ago. We walked in. The lighting was subdued. A few oriental people scattered here and about. Usually a good sign.

Vietnamese decor, and Vietnamese music playing softly. We sit down. We get our menus. And before long ... is that ... is that Michael Jackson????

They'd put the Thriller album on.

The waiter came to take our order.

"What happened to the Vietnamese music?"

"Oh, you like? We thought you American, you maybe like American music."

Eeehhruuuhhmmm ... no. We were enjoying the other.

He put the other back on.

But I notice it all over. Go in to a Mexican restaurant. They've got the place decorated to give you the feel of being South of the Border. But there's what passes for "R&B" these days playing on the sound system. It sort of spoils the effect.

Not so El Rancherito in Effingham, IL. That place got it right!

No comments: