This morning, I was going to write about the wonder of seeing a huge beaver peacefully forage on my property (for the first time ever! - after living in Oregon and on a river for 5 years), and of the joy of noticing that a pair of beautiful wood ducks have moved into a lofty tree nest just outside of my living room window.

I was feeling warm and fuzzy all over - until I opened my email.

The whole affair surrounding my post from yesterday about Baltazar's restaurant is leaving a distinctly sour taste in my mouth. Partially, it's the asshole who commented "I'm going to make a point to go there now" - and partially it's the disappointment that the local blogging community has decided to stay mum on the subject.

Yes, I know - the Mom's Club of Bend has already blooged about it (which I won't link to because it inappropriately discloses certain people's names), and so has the Bend Oregon Restaurant blog.

And Jake made the excellent point that for all we know, it's a case of hear-say, and "she said", "he said".

To me though, the point really isn't that Baltazar's is kid-unfriendly. God knows - not having any kids myself, I'm the first to get annoyed at a child, wailing at the top of its lungs at a neighboring table while I try to enjoy my dinner.

It's about the underlying principle of putting up with (and even supporting) socially unacceptable behavior (calling a customer "a bitch" qualifies, I think) - about not squeaking, even when the people around us are getting stepped on.

It's about the apparent lack of value placed on the money we as a society spend on the things in our lives (like dining and getting a good customer experience in return).

It's about a community so disintegrated, that we don't stand united anymore in the face of insult and injustice - unless it benefits us individually, in some way.

If we step wayyyy back and look at the bigger picture - those are the exact reasons why four long years later, we are still in a war nobody wants and everybody knows is wrong. Why we have a bumbling monkey in the White House who only supports special interests and gets away with doing as he pleases - instead of an intelligent, articulate human being who actually cares, listens and looks out for the greater good of the nation.

It's *our* fault. For not speaking up and saying "enough". For not forcing change. For not standing up for what's right, and just, and beneficial to our society, a nation, a world, at whole. And on a smaller scale - for speaking out against violations in our own small community.

Because we are selfish, and ego-centric, and a bunch of sheep. And that makes me sad and angry, all at the same time.

:: start flame bait:: I gotta hand it to the French at least - they don't take any shit from anybody. Least of all their government. I also hear the weather in Cuba is mostly warm and sunny... :: end flame bait ::

I think there is soooooo much going on with this subject that the original point in the email has been lost. It's now about kid friendly vs. adult friendly atmosphere.

I personally try to expose my children to restaurants, but we do so at an appropriate time (around 6pm, so that we are finished by the "romantic atmosphere" those are trying to create later in the night). My children have been walked out of a restaurant (it only takes one time) by me when they are acting out. They sit inside a booth and are hushed by my husband or myself if they are getting a bit loud talking. I also tried (when they were younger) to make it a point to bring my OWN crayons and paper, just in case.

I think the blogging community has seen the lions share of the Craigslist postings and inappropriate postings going on and wish to remain neutral on the subject. Just my opinion though.

I have to say that certain Mom's club members have acted inappropriately, blogging the children's names; the emailer's full names; and passing it along to the media without permission.

Ok, enough. I'm trying to stay neutral and it just irritates me. I have kids, I would get uppity if someone went off on me (I would go off on them in return). I get both sides, but the "explosion" it has become has lost it's original point. He said vs. she said. I know the mom in this case and I know she has no reason to extend the truth. I have not witnessed Baltazar's wrath in the few times I have eaten there. My husband does not want to eat there anymore, but dammit they have good food and margaritas.

It's a shame.

La Rosa, El Caporal, and El Jimador are all Mexican restaurants in Bend that have excellent food and even better margaritas (I'm thinking of the Cactus Margarita at La Rosa, and El Caporal's "Perfect Margarita").

But they combine that with some of the best service in town.

There is no reason to go to Baltazar's.

As a follow-up note: I'm afraid you've missed my point entirely.

It's not that the original subject of the email got lost - it's that I've chosen to expound on the more important underlying principals of the point.

I could have gotten wrapped up in throwing dirt, or the intricate details of the situation - but what for?

Sometimes it's better to take a deep breath, step back, and consider a situation from a wider perspective to see where the real problem lies. Sadly, it's an approach taken only too rarely in our times ...

And I was hoping my post would trigger some pondering on that instead. It seems I have failed.
Bummer.

If I have missed your point, I am sorry, I have a sinus headache and am "foggy" and you are more than welcome to erase my comment.

I received an email yesterday from a friend who went to El Cap and it was an "odd" experience when her boss tried to make a joke and he just turned on his heels and walked away. I do like most of the Mexican Restaurants here and there is another opening near Boyd Acres/Empire.

I must go swallow that Sudafed to clear my brain

I think the reason many of us bloggers are staying neutral on this (me included) is because of the way this e-mail (and variations of it) are getting thrown around. Many of the people who are throwing this email around are following the mob mentality and just forwarding it on, not really even knowing the person writing the original rant, nor having actually even been to the establishment in question. They just want to join a cause, even though there's probably no way they'd go there to begin with.

I've never met the guy, nor eating at any of his places. If I want mexican (and can afford the good stuff), I already know that El Caporal is really good, reasonably priced, and closer to my house, so why would I bother anyway? But I'm remaining neutral on this mess because, again, it's all hearsay. I've got the various e-mails in question nearly a dozen times in 24 hours, and not a single one of them is from somebody I actually know, nor can any of them actually identify the person that sent them the e-mail. They've all been from "A friend of a friend." Yeah, that makes me want to deal with it.

If what is said in these e-mails is true, it sucks, and the guy's a jerk. But again, I'm not forwarding these things on because I don't know if it's true or not.

You're going to let a stupid, pointless comment like "I'm going to make a point to go there now" get you riled up?

How long have you been on the internets?

There are much better things to let make you angry.

Just sayin'.

so......



tell me about the BEAVER!!!!

It's pretty funny that you have to bring up the two species of wildlife that just so happen to be the mascots of OSU and UofO.

GO BEAVERS!!!

Balthazar who?

Well, Keena ... about that BEAVER....

Let me tell you - he was so cool! A massive brown animal, so shy and alert, so clumsy on land, yet so effortless in the water ... I'm still in awe, really.

On a completely unrelated note - I'm disappointed, people. Is *nobody* seeing the bigger picture here? I thought my post could encourage some intelligent discussion on the importance of community and standing up for the values that make life bearable. I guess not... :: shrug ::

And Jake - if you've read the various accounts over on the Mom's club page, I think you'll agree with me that this wasn't an isolated incident. You may not know the writer of the original email personally - but how many times do you have to be told about something (and by how many people) to see the kernel of truth?

And would you have treated the story differently if, say, a proper journalist would have written a piece about it first?

"but how many times do you have to be told about something (and by how many people) to see the kernel of truth?"

I think the number's about 80 or so before I pay attention ;-)

"And would you have treated the story differently if, say, a proper journalist would have written a piece about it first?"

Realistically, I'm just totally slammed, and don't have the time to really look into this like I'd want to. I have a day job, and chasing down the validity of information provided third-hand by people I don't know isn't something I have a lot of free time to do.

If a proper journalist picked this up, yes, I probably would've given it more weight (assuming I knew the person was not just blowing smoke). The reality is that I think if they're trying to make a point, they've easily already made it. Many of the people from around here also read other local blogs, and, realisitically, the folks who are boycotting this place probably wouldn't go there anyway -- so what does that accomplish? It's like when PETA sends an email to all their members to boycott KFC. KFC doesn't give a rip, as I doubt they've ever seen a PETA member in their stores so it's not hurting their revenue, just like Baltazar is probably not losing sleep over this. The people that frequent his restaurants are not the kind of people that would be swayed by some blogger's rants (let alone even read them in the first place).

So everybody can bitch and gripe all they want, but if even if every single word I'm reading about this is true, he's not going to give a flying rip. Me writing up a post about Baltazars would only give the guy more PR and give people who hate kids and family (and there are a ton of a$$holes like that) even more reason to go there, making him more money.

Sorry, but this is the last I talk about this, as there are really bigger things in life that we should all be worrying about.

Amen to that.

I'm so over it too.