Sorry for going quiet, but I’ve been working on a new project. Since I am already a tea addict, I decided to take the hint from some friends and start a tea blog.  You can visit my tea blog here:  www.lainiesips.com

More on this blog soon. I promise!

Job Benefits You didn’t Even Know You Had!

There are a lot of benefits that many people never use because they didn’t take the time to find out about them. Don’t let this happen to you!

Numerous Posts on DualTriadian.com (My Adoption Blog)

Typically snarky stuff (with the occasional “useful” post such as “Lotto Tickets” for potential adoptive parents).

My Foodie Posts on Munchbrothers.org

My foray into food writing. Lots and lots of posts: Reviews, comments on obesity epidemic, etc.

More on transparency on this blog later tonight.

1. The subject matter is somewhat adult. It is not obscene, by any means, but it involves, ahem, a sex toy.

2. The post contains a small picture of said sex toy. No nudity or “demonstrations” but this photo is not work safe.

3. Any Christians who are scandalized by this story and who chide me via email or comments are subject to public mockery in this blog.

In any case, the guaranteed laugh story can be found on Heather Ryan’s “Terrible Mother” blog. Heather Ryan, incidentally, recently wrote an excellent piece for Salon entitled Our Cupboard was Bare . In which she describes having to take her children to a soup kitchen a few nights a week during a period of time in which money was very tight.  The response from some Salon readers, often touting their “liberal” credentials, demonstrates the mean-spiritedness that pervades even the most supposedly progressive among us.

In fact, the response to Ms. Ryan’s Salon piece will be the subject of an upcoming blog post.

Peace out, everyone!

I’ve been on a food writing kick lately. Enjoy:

10+ Real Three Ingredient Recipes

5 Signs of a Good Wine Bar

Stovetop Smoking: A Review of the Cameron Smoker

Homemade Noodles Make a Difference at Zoba

10 Real 5-Minute Recipes at Munchbrothers.org

Cold Cuppa: A Review of the Toddy cold brew coffee system at Munchbrothers.org

Safe Haven Fallout? We’ll Never Know! (Commentary on Baby Safe Haven laws) at Dualtriadian.com

How to Write a “Housing Wanted Ad” for Craigslist at Hubpages.com

Enjoy!

So What if the Kid Just Doesn’t Like You? A commentary on “attachment therapy” and the death of Candace Newmaker.

How to Support Your Favorite Bloggers

How to Lose Weight In Spite of Yourself

Cheap and Healthy Breakfasts for College Students

How to Get Your Daily Coconut Oil

Is the customer always right?

Even when their request (which they may well be willing to pay for) offends the sensibilities and standards of a purveyor of goods/services?

Maybe I should rephrase the question: If there is no inconvenience or cost to a business person, are they obligated to alter their product to meet the desires of a patron? And if the business person refuses to do so, is the patron justified in being miffed?

Recently two stories about coffee have been in the news: The first concerns Intelligentsia Coffee (an independent coffee roaster here in Chicago) announcing that its three cafes would no longer sell “venti” (20 oz) drinks. Doug Zell, Intelligentsia’s chief executive, explained that serving coffee in 20 oz sizes damaged the integrity of the product. If you want Intelligentsia coffee in one of their corporate-owned cafes, you are either going to drink it their way or not at all. Some Chicagoans are annoyed and are accusing Intelligentsia of snobbery.

The other story involves Murky Coffee of Arlington, Virgina. When a Mr. Jeff Simmermon requested iced espresso, he was informed that it was against company policy to prepare espresso in such a manner. Words were exchanged and Mr. Simmermon took the establishment to task in his blog. Nick Cho, the owner of Murky, responded via comment on Mr. Simmermon’s blog. In his comment he both explained his policy on iced espresso and threatened harm to Mr. Simmermon’s genitalia.

This “Murky” matter is now national news with people debating  “the customer is always right” vs “professional integrity”.

I favor professional integrity, myself. This isn’t just about coffee, it’s about aesthetics, morals, and principle.

Those of us old enough to remember the 1970s will recall the old Burger King commercial which assured patrons that they could “have it their way”. Yet while BK was customizing its odious “food”, a quiet revolution was taking place on the west coast. There, Alice Waters had established Chez Pannisse, a restaurant that was decidedly not about customer whims, but about teaching people to eat well. Chef Waters prepared a meal each day (from fresh, in-season, local ingredients), and customers ate it. (If customers didn’t want to eat the meal, they could go to Burger King instead.)

Because Alice Waters stuck to her guns and refused to cater to the lowest common denominator, we now have access to all sorts of quality foodstuffs, both in restaurants and in shops. Waters knew that the customer wasn’t always right, because, quite frankly, the customer can’t always be right. The customer needs education before s/he can be “right” about the proprietor’s specialty. People like Waters, Cho, and Zell would rather lose a customer, even suffer some ill-will, rather than profit from ignorance.

I call that good business. God bless them, and others like them, for refusing to succumb to demands for mediocrity.

Have a great weekend!

Seelhoff is a former adherent of the quiverfull / Christian patriarchy movement and was both a speaker at homeschooling conferences as well as the publisher of Gentle Spirit, a magazine originally devoted to the tenants of quiverfull and Christian patriarchy. She has published some very interesting commentary on Quiverfull and has recently announced a new blog that will focus on quiverfull. I look forward to seeing the development of this new blog, and wish her much success.

The first of my new blogs, Dualtriadian.com is now up and running. The focus of Dualtriadian.com is on adoption issues. Please do stop by and have a look.

Also, I have posted an article on Hubpages about eating out whilst on a diet.

More soon.