Curmudgeon's Corner

Fish Fry Tonight? All You Can Eat?

Posted by Al Campbell on May 18, 2012

Wisconsin, Quality of Life, Potpourri, People Making A Difference

It is Fish Fry Friday once again in the land of what appears to be the ‘stuff guts’ and the ‘gluttons’, as I was always accused of being during the hazing in the military academy I attended to obtain my commission.  We had Tactical Officers whose job it was to make our lives miserable when we sat to eat a meal as they tried to weed out those whom they determined were ‘unworthy’ of being officers.  We were kept under psychological stress to see if and when we would ‘break’ and cash in our chips.

Maybe we need Fish Fry Friday tactical officers who would roam the multitude of ‘all-you-can-eat’ fish fry establishments in our corner of the world.  They could serve to identify those of us who were exceeding the bounds of propriety so far as the number of pieces of fish we had consumed in one sitting.  They could police us to be sure we weren’t sharing our ‘all-you-can-eat’ fish with someone who hadn’t purchased an ‘all-you-can-eat’ dinner.

The hullabaloo that followed the story about Bill and his experience at Chuck’s Place in Thiensville must’ve had the effect of confirming for all those across our country that we truly are only driven by our gluttony and that we have no concept of healthy eating.  We’ve never been thought of as being healthy examples by those whom I’ve met during business trips or other travel.  I never gave a lot of thought to our reputation other than to laugh along with those who were telling me of our reputation.

I don’t recall seeing anyone at a Fish Fry who appeared to me to be over-consuming but I could’ve simply missed the offenders.  I know that the ‘all-you-can-eat’ buffet establishments talk of those who have really outstayed their welcomes on a fairly regular basis.

I do hope that Bill will honor the Chuck’s Place owners request to not darken his doorstep ever again, even though Bill supposedly still owes money on his ‘tab’ for food consumed on credit.  It seems that the owner has gone way beyond what would be expected to try to keep Bill happy.  There are always the ‘literal’ people who believe that the words mean exactly what they say, and who believe there ought to be no end to the amount one can consume other than the capacity inside the person.  I prefer to think that ‘all-you-can-eat’ means I can request another portion if I think I need it, but I do not venture into an all-you-can-eat Fish Fry trying to set some kind of personal best gluttony record for the Guinness Book.

There are many individual definitions of common sense, but I side with the owner and likely wouldn’t have permitted Bill to continue to grace my establishment for so long as did this owner.  Whether or not Bill was seeking his ‘15 minutes of fame’ as some have speculated, he was way beyond the bounds of what my ‘common sense’ tells me is right in this situation.