My husband, of greenhouse fame planted something like 37 tomato plants this year. Since he’s a good gardener, that means we have lots and lots of tomatoes. This is my gardener husband’s favorite time of year.
Everywhere he goes he takes tomatoes. He is greeted with smiles and happiness because almost everyone he meets loves getting his fresh from the garden tomatoes. Today he took with him enough tomatoes for the people he plays Pan with and enough cucumbers that I’m not going to have to eat them all. He grows the cucumbers for me.
There is something wonderful about a tomato grown in a home garden. It probably has something to do with being picked red and delicious just before you eat it. Maybe with great slabs of tomato on BLT (bacon, lettuce, and tomato) sandwiches. Maybe just eating one directly from the vine.
In addition to the big tomatoes, he grows the little ones for me. Fat round cherry tomatoes, pear shaped yellow ones, and who knows what else? Don’t ask me. I just eat them.
I’m sorry, but you’ll just have to visualize his tomatoes. The spammers are still after me and they’re tagging my photos.
I hope you have a generous tomato farmer in your neck of the woods.
Marilynne
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This issue comes up because of free internet at the coffee houses. They have challenged each other to provide more and more for the people who take them up on free internet. How long does a cup of coffee entitle you to free internet and how many tables are you allowed to control?
Recently Starbucks faced this issue. I tried to find an analysis on their web site, but was unsuccessful. The issue is simply that Starbucks has invited you in to enjoy their coffee and food items and use their free internet. It’s using the free internet that causes the problem.
Most coffee houses have a dining area designed for customers who sit, eat, maybe talk a little and then leave. OK. They never considered that someone might come into their establishment, maybe buy a coffee or maybe not, and then sit there for hours using the internet.
When you buy your lunch or your coffee and a treat, you turn around and look for a seat. There was hardly anyone in front of you so you didn’t expect to see – every seat either occupied or filled with someone’s stuff. The squatters often take up more than half of the seating. They consider this your problem.
Because I’m a bold woman of a certain age, I often ask them to clear their stuff off of the next table where they’ve overflowed onto or even ask them to move their laptop a bit so I can share their table – there being no other seats available.
After the startled look they usually bustle about clearing a space for me. However, I think that’s a special privilege afforded a woman of a certain age. Perhaps they think I’ll die on the spot if I don’t sit soon – or worse yet, faint and dump my coffee on the table, perhaps on the laptop.
So, I urge you to be bold in this issue. This is a problem with all coffee houses – in my area Panera, Starbucks, and Peets. (Maybe Peet’s is the worst. It’s an upscale neighborhood and those people tend to feel entitled.)
I’m asking customers to unite. Fight this with politeness and determination. After all, some day you might want to plug in your laptop while you have a little coffee.
Marilynne
Later – I just dropped by Starbucks this afternoon and to my surprise I found only two WiFi ers and they were sharing a table for two. Maybe the world is changing – or maybe I just dropped in at an unpopular time.
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