Is It Me?

Is it me?

I guess one way to confuse the workers of a local McDonald's is to show up at 10:52am - in between their change over from breakfast to lunch menus.

I don’t do McDonald's often, just every once in awhile for a treat. Here is how the morning conversation went with a McDonald's staffer this am.

Staffer: May I help you?

Me: Hi Good Morning, is it breakfast or lunch now? (I really did not have a preference, just hungry)

Staffer Scuse me?

Me: Are you serving breakfast or lunch?

Staffer: (Looking at me like I just stepped off the mother ship)

....Let me check, she says

Me: OK

Staffer (after a wait) We still have breakfast

Me: OK, I will have an egg McMuffin 

Staffer (again looking at me with a longing stare) Oh, wait a minute

Me: OK

Staffer (after a wait) We don’t have egg McMuffins

Me: (feeling my Yankee impatience) Okay, what do you have?

Staffer: Let me Check

Staffer: (Talking to other workers, all looking confused)

Staffer (now I think she is a little moody, and after another wait she states) We really don’t know what we have

Me: You can say that again

Staffer (just staring at me)

Me: (waiving bye, bye) OK, I will go someplace else

Staffer (looking as if she was pleased that I am leaving) OK, thank you sir:

She looked relieved......

I was proud that I kept my Yankee temper in check here:

So now I go to my car and start thinking about that encounter and wonder if it’s me, the culture here or just the downfall of America in general. Are McDonald's executive staff preoccupied with making others in far away lands  happy and loving it?

And how come we don’t have one of these in this country….

Above is -A McDonald's “cheering station” and was designed in China, complete with webcam, microphone, interactive screen and web access. Every customer who went into the station could record their own video of a cheer for China and McDonald's then transfer the results to the McDonald’s China web site.

Although, I must admit, can you imagine the things that would be said and seen if we did have one of these in this country? I could think of a few things I would have said this morning

I think it was the very first time that I heard anyone in the food service industry tell me that they don’t know what they have and then looking at me as if to say “you can go now”

Don’t these employees go through some sort of training for situations like this? Should they just close down between the hours of 11:00 – 12:00 noon to avoid the confusion. What in the world would Mr. Kroc think?

My unscientific survey does suggest on average, I do wait 4-9 minutes longer in line at establishments in the south than I do up North.  I don't think that was it. It really had nothing to do with the wait..It was a combination of things, I guess I have my expectations too high on trivial encounters such as this. But I do truly believe that there is something else going on......lack of training, lack of customer commitment or just plain poor work ethic. One thing for sure, the Burger King  down the street got it right and got it fast. I had it my way. 

 I love the free market!

Tell me some of your "fast" food horror stories

A Yankee is born:

My Mom and Dad migrated to Boston Massachusetts from Great Britain (insert arms tired joke here) via an ocean liner. My mother was 9 months pregnant with me at the time. I often wondered that with the ship being registered in India and all, that if my mother gave birth to me in the middle of the Atlantic on that ship, would I be Indian?






Many people are surprised to hear that I am a first generation Brit! Some think I came from someplace else...



I am sure the teachers that eventually had me in their path, often wondered about these things......



What else was happening in the world when I was born?

That last headline is only a coincidence and has nothing to do with me being born the same day as this sighting.

I was born in Brookline Massachusetts, deep in the heart of Yankee country. Now, lets not confuse the region vs. the sports teams. I think my very first words were..:



...Carl Yastrzemski. I was born in a region of the country that is considered Yankee territory, but the local sports team has nothing to do with that city just four hours away down I95. If you were born in or near Boston, you were born a Red Sox fan for life!

I had a major issue right out of the gate. As my mother tells the story. One day my aunt was coming down the stairs into the front yard and saw that my baby carriage was on fire. Well, needless to say she went into frantic mode and ran upstairs to get water or something, noticing that all the while I was on the bed with my mother, safe and sound. I am sure my aunt may have been thinking it was something like.....



I have always looked at things a little different than most, this is a good trait at times. I often wondered where I got this thinking from and then I remembered.

My mother!

You see at age 6-7 my mom use to drive me to school in one of these:



Not bad for the day. But she had to add these to the exterior



Now, can you imagine how many stories I had to tell my friends about the "flower car" when she came to pick me up from school? "um..errr..my mom is getting paid to advertise the daisies" "umm..they protect against rust, your mom doesn't have any on her car?"

My moms rambler got me thinking...............

.......about now and then. How things have changed...I look around my house now and wonder what the heck did we do without these inventions?: 

Yes technology has come along way since I was born, I remember as a child using one of these:

Today, kids get a kick out of texting each other. Back in the day with one of these old school phones, we use to get all excited dialing a number with an 0 in the seven digits. Watching the dial go all away around was the thrill of the day. .

And who said we didn't have car phones?

Most of us that needed to make a call from the road used these.........

...........remember ?


How I watch football today.........

Vs. the TV of the day.

At age 10 I remember watching Neil Armstrong's walk on the moon from one of these.

I remember growing up decisions were a little easier than they are today. Take a simple task of going to the store to get a drink:

Today: 

Then: 

Forget about the terrorism threat color meter we have today. We did it right when I went to elementary school.

Duck and cover scared the crap out of many!


As I write this blog, wild memories flood in and I could go on for days. But I will stop here. I find myself getting older the more I type and saying things under my breath like "They don't make em' like they use to"

Can you relate? 

Civil Yankee

Not a whisper! Each man was conscious
He stood in the sight of death;
So he bowed to the awful presence,
And treasured his living breath ~ George Henry Boker(1823-1890)

I have been writing about the Civil War. A Southern Yankees perspective. I have learned many new things about the war since I have lived down south. It has taken me awhile to get where I am with it and is going to take more time for me to come up with a final product. I want to do it justice and I want to do it right. . Many people died in this war, on both sides. It will take awhile to complete . While researching, I found a couple of items I wanted to share right away.

To inform and illustrate the scale, scope and tragedy of the Civil War, the Abe Lincoln museum's Civil War in Four Minutes was created. It is a large animated map which plays out the progress of the war with continuously shifting battle lines and flare-ups that mark specific major battles. The entire war is presented in this way in roughly 4 and one half minutes. Nothing like this has been done before on the Civil War.

The map is of the period and based on meticulous research. The war was broken down into one week time periods and then each week was represented in one second. Storyboards were created illustrating the fluctuation of the battle fronts. Key battles were represented by explosions on the map. The graphic look, information and lay-out was developed and finalized and then digitized to its final presentation format.

The emotional effect of all this is both hypnotic and devastating.




And just by reviewing one letter from a Civil War soldier to his wife, the impact of the war can hit home.

Joseph Milton Elkins was a private in Company E, 49th Virginia Infantry Regiment, C.S.A. He enlisted at Culpeper, Virginia around June 1861. After standing guard duty at a field hospital following the First Battle of Manassas, Joseph, along with the remainder of the Confederate Army, bivouacked at Centreville and Manassas during the fall and winter of 1861. Joseph was stationed at Fort Pickens.His letter to his wife follows:

July 21, 1861
Camp Pickens

Dear Wife,

I take this opportunity of writing you these few lines to inform you that I am well at this present time and when these few lines come to hand they may find you enjoying the same health. We had another great battle Sunday, it commenced at 6 o'clock and ended at 6 o'clock, it was the hardest battle that was ever fought in America. They had 10 to our one--we conquered them, we lost about 800 in killed and wounded. The Yankees lost about 5,000 and we took 1,300 prisoners and 125 horses, baggage wagons and 64 pieces of cannon besides a great many things. I was not in the battle but could hear the report of the cannons which was in very plain view and we was in site of the battlefield, it was a sad and dreary day. I never had spent such a sabbath in my life before I have seen the horror of war. I had to stand sentinel [duty] at the hospital door were I could see all the wounded soldiers. I stood from Sunday 12 o'clock till Monday night. -- I had to be up all night to guard the wounded--it was the saddest thing I ever saw to hear the moans of the wounded and dying. I saw the surgeons operating on them, it made me shed tears to see how they suffered, some had to have both of their arms cut off and some their legs. I saw all the surgeons operations, it was a distressing sight to see them how they suffered--we like to got old Scott, [General Winfield Scott] they got his coat. We have completely routed them. I expect we will attack Washington City next. President (Jefferson ) Davis] came here Sunday. He went out on the battlefield, he came round and looked at all the wounded soldiers and shed tears over them, he is pleasant and graceful in his manner --it seemed to put new vigor in his army to see him in their presence.
I have heard and read a good deal about war but I have seen the horror at last. I never want to look into another hospital if I can help myself again. I have nothing more to say about the war. If it should be the will of the almighty for me to go into battle -I trust to be in his care --he has the power to save. I will put my trust in him. I want you to write to me as soon as I can direct it in the care of Captain Williams and how are you getting along and if they have sent you provisions yet. I don't know when I can come up but I will come as soon as I can. I am always thinking of you and the children. I hope I will return to you all again. I want you to raise them right if I should not get back. Nothing more at present but remain your affectionate husband until death parts us.
Joseph M. Elkins
To: Sarah Elkins
Flint Hill, Virginia



You can see why I am taking my time with this........

My Cousin Vinny and Me

I can relate!

As movies go, My Cousin Vinny brings it home for me. Oh man, can I relate! I watch this movie and can see myself in many of these scenes. I decided to show a few of my favorite scenes from the movie and write a little about my personal experience with that scene.

On Hunting (Warning this clip has some foul language)






I have never been deer hunting myself. Come to think of it, I have never been invited to go deer hunting for that matter. I couldn’t imagine such a thing. I guess, if the end of days were near and I had to convert to a hunter gatherer, I probably would be a high maintenance hunter. But if I HAD to, what attire would I sport for such an occasion? My wardrobe lacks the proper camouflage attire. Although I must say, If I was to go hunting, I would prefer this look:

Can you see me?

If that did not work, the closest thing to hunting attire I have would be something like this:

What is a grit anyway?




I did not eat grits for the first few years I was down South. It was something I told myself I wasn’t going to do. Me eat grits? Ewe! I would stick to my regional fare of cream of wheat.

Over time I did get a little braver and decided to at least give them a try. When in Rome, try some grits!

when I first asked for a bowl of grits here in the south, I asked the waitress to be sure to include milk and sugar..she said "include what!?" "you must be from up north" she continued. Quaker oats porridge came to mind when I placed my order. I did find out that I can have grits with butter or cheese (cheese?)

I always thought of grits to be a hard "gritty" food and tasteless. Heck, I had no clue what a grit was prior to my southern life.

I now have come to enjoy a bowl of grits with my breakfast. I still probably eat them with a northern flare as I don't have it with cheese or butter but ask for it plain and I top it off with a bit of artificial sugar-yes the pink package. Some tell me that is sacrilegious, but I do enjoy them that way.

Two Youts

Being from Boston, I have a slightly different dialect than those from New York. I though I would share some of my own word styling:

A Yankee Lexicon
ah = The letter between "q" an "s."
ahnt = Aunt
bah =  Bar
beah = Beer
bon = As in: Where were you born?
bzah = Strange, odd:
chowdah = Clams, milk, butter
connah = Where streets intersect
Dot = Short for Dorchester (My home town!)
fah =  Not near
fok = What you eat pasta
fyah =  Blaze: Fire
gahbidge = What they used to dump in the harbor
guvnah  = Chief executive of the commonwealth.
hahbah  = Harbor
hahf-ahst  = Done without regard to detail
hoss = Horse
Howahya = How are you?
khakis = What you start the car with.
mayah = Chief executive of the city
Noo Yok =  The City that never sleeps
owah  = Sixty minutes.
pahk  = Park
pahkah = One who pahks a cah.
pahlah  = Where the sofa is
pahster  = Spaghetti, ziti, etc..
pahty  = A social gathering. Also: Democratic or Republican.
shua  = Of course.
shot  = Not tall
squayah =  Not Round
tamorrah  = The day after today.
waw  = War
Yankee = Descendant of the folks who stole the Indians’ seed con.
yeah = A 365-day period:
yiz = You, plural. As in: "Ah yiz goin’ down the Cape tamorrah?"

On the great outdoors (a little foul language)



That’s is me 100%!!! I have done that many time here (minus the gun). We live in an area that at night there are sounds that you would never think can come from nature. All sorts of animals making strange sounds. Every now and then we hear a new sound and wonder what kind of man eater is out there waiting for us. The bugs are very loud and the frogs….millions of them making a croaking sound that seems like they are getting closer and closer to the house........

.....I swear that they are saying Gordon, Gordon, Gordon.........


“Oh and you blend”

Mona Lisa Vito: [Vinny looks at her funny] "What?"
Vinny Gambini: "Nothing. You stick out like a sore thumb around here."
Mona Lisa Vito: "Me? What about you?"
Vinny Gambini: "I fit in better than you. At least I'm wearing cowboy boots."
Mona Lisa Vito: "Oh yeah, you blend."

I don't know if I blend or not. Is that so important these days. I guess if you look like this...

You probably wont blend anywhere?


I haven't tried cowboy boots yet, but I did try one of these recently:

I am glad I have big ears or else the hat would have covered my eyes.

What is proper southern wear anyway? 

This?.........

Or this............

Can't say that I have ever worn a camo outfit, no need to, unless I decide to go stalk something in the woods. I am fine with my everyday work attire.....

Or for a more relaxing weekend approach:

Go Pats!!! Well maybe I don't blend after all.