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31
Mar
Philosopher Groucho Marx
Sleepless last night, I spoke with Groucho Marx, my favorite philosopher. Chewing his cigar, he hailed me:
- Hey, André, what’s keeping you up?
- You know, the economy, the world…
- There’s no reason to worry about. You are blessed to live in a democracy: you are free!
- Free and broke.
- Still democracy is great because it’s the enlightened will of the majority. For instance, the majority of us have no bonuses nor golden parachutes because the majority feels it is immoral.
- Sure, but some do get them, however. So if we could compromise just a little bit with the immorality of the thing could we all have bonuses and golden parachutes?
- No, I fear, that’s not possible.
- Then, in that case, would it be possible that nobody could benefit from these immoral goodies?
- Don’t ask silly questions…
For those who have no golden parachute or who lost it, I have some good news about the energy and money saving combat . More and more restaurateurs are following the path of mega-chef Alain Senderens and renege their stars. They say: We are not generals, we don’t need those stars, they cost us too much and even more to our clients. We want to keep our clients. You can keep your stars, we will cut our prices. In some instances, if crime does not pay, modesty does.
Some boutique hoteliers go the same way. It’s easy for them – they say to skip the stars as well – no phone and TV in the rooms. That’s enough to downgrade the place. But if a call is a necessity, everybody has a cellular and if it rains there are so many good books out there that we raved for years to read one day. Reducing their costs these innkeepers can pass the savings to the guests.
Good news, indeed. There are still many good affordable eateries and charming well-appointed inns. We are at your service to locate them for you.
You see, it’s always heartening to speak with philosophers.
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