Since this building contains a lot of different offices someone had the bright idea of putting in a food court in my absence. It will go into service sometime this week, but had a huge spread of food here today that’s indicative of what they plan to serve.

Sweet God and baby Jesus give me strength.

It doesn’t matter how far away I get from the American south, I will always love so-called ’soul food’. For the uninitiated soul food is simply home cooking of the southern variety but with an African-American twist. I’ve always loved the fact that amidst all the hatred blacks and whites in the south–at the end of the day–were sitting down to identical suppers; cornbread, rice and gravy, fried chicken, collard greens. In some odd way it’s like an edible monument to reconciliation. It’s also damn tasty.

Those who know me know I love to cook often adventurous and sophisticated meals. However, sometimes all I want is a plate of turnip greens, cornbread and meatloaf. Wash it down with some Kool-Aid and you’ve got yourself what could easily be called the culinary lingua franca of 60% of the US. (*)

Though not very nuanced this craigslist post attempts put things in perspective in this timeless season of buying crap. You see a lot of articles on better customer service; rarely do you see any reminding customers that their whims are not law. Bravo from someone who has indeed worked retail at Xmas in a past life.