The Restaurant

I came across a brilliant blog yesterday by a New York waiter,
Waiter Rant. Again, it humbled me and reminded me of the tremendous value of the Internet in that it allows such genius to express itself to the world and flourish almost without constraint. I understand and appreciate what the blogger has to say as I am myself a waiter (one of my many hats in being a restauranteur). If only I had the self-discipline to write down all the stories.

Today is the start of the week for my restaurant, Amazing Thai, which my wife and I have operated now for three-and-a-half years. By restaurant standards, our week is rather short in that we close on Sundays and Mondays and are open only for dinner on Saturday. We made the choice when we opened the restaurant, to allow ourselves some time. And naturally, part of that time off is spent on other restaurant matters (bookeeping, planning, purchasing, cleaning). In addition to my wife and I, we have a staff of four -- three cooks and a waitress/kitchen helper. The latter helps us on Friday and Saturday nights when it is really busy, one of the cooks serves as assistant manager and primary cook, and we have one lunch cook and one dinner cook. Normally, two cooks and one server (my wife or I) staff the place.
The restaurant has done exceptionally well since day one, with a devoted customer base that appreciates our great food and service. We are small -- only eight tables -- but cozy and classy. The atmosphere is very Thai with the walls filled with Thai pictures and the shelves with Thai mementoes. Our prices are mid-range, which opens us to customers from all strata. In many ways, our cuisine is comfort food and we are a neighborhood restaurant.

The interesting thing is that before we opened the restaurant, neither my wife nor I had any restaurant experience (other than as diners). Friends feared for our failure, aware of the stats on business failure in this field. I, however did have small business experience from ten years back, plus a business degree. And my wife is a terrific cook. We are both teachers, which helps immensely when it comes to training the staff, particularly the cooks. It has helped also, that we have had no direct competition since we opened the business. We are the only Thai restaurant in town.

The Examined Life

As I resume this new activity called blogging, I am amazed at the sheer volume of blogs on the internet and the originality and quality of many of them. They humble me at times. Being in part a restauranteur, this morning I googled 'restaurant blog' and encountered some interesting sites, the best being this humourous and creative blog by a New York waiter, Waiter Rant
I want there to be a greater purpose to this blog than a mere journal. My own website, Life in Progress generates several thousand hits per month, particularly the pages about Buddhism and the pages about Thailand. But it isn't particuarly focussed. Is this going to merely be a variation on the same theme, but more engaged and perhaps more interactive? I would like there to be a focus in order to generate more interest from the internet community.

An important part of any blog is the title, for this is in large part what google uses. The only way people will come to this blog is from googling it or from links from other blogs. The title and the focus are connected, of course. What shall I call it. The present title isn't appropriate as at present I don't want to focus on Vancouver Island, but rather on life.

And so, on to life.

The Average person is living his or her life in search of something -- from waking to sleeping -- engaged in a process of maintenance and advancement (though sometimes suffering regression) -- buffered this way and that by forces internal and external. By internal I mean the body and the mind. By external, I mind the world outside. The body says rest, but the mind says work. The boss says do this overtime, but the mind says the family is waiting. A Tsunami hits and the search for enlightenment becomes a focus on survival.

It seems trite to say all this. And yet, how many of us live a life we can be proud of and are a content with. I often fear that Thoreau's pronouncement that "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation." continues to ring true.
We are ruled by fear or desire. Wordsworth: "Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers."

Organized religion in America has grown in popularity and influence in recent years, quite unlike in other developed nations. I suspect that this is in part because Americans are seeking a meaning and direction to their lives after finding that 'getting and spending' is not enough. Doubtless for most, some sort of guidance is helpful. I have found this in philosophy and in Buddhism. Both identify the central problems of life, individually and in the world, and suggest ways to deal with the problems.

My next blog will look at what Aristotle had to say.

Johnny Carson and Aristotle

One of the finest guides to living a good and happy life, the Greek philosopher Arisotle, taught that one should not necessarily count a life happy until it has ended, for the end of life can be one of terrible suffering and misfortune, as the ancient Greek tragedies often portrayed. The choices we make in life direct us towards or away from happiness and enable us to take advantage of good furtune or endure misfortune.

I was saddened today to read of the great television entertainer Johnny Carson's death at the age of 79. Although he has been out of the limelight for some years now, he brought considerable happiness and laughter to so many during his thirty plus years as host of the Tonight Show. While many Hollywood celebrities succumb to the temptations of wealth and fame, and life quite contrary to Aristotle's dictums, Johnny Carson's final years were lived well. He chose to bow out at the top and live a quiet and happy life to the end. Several quotes from today's Associated Press obituary impressed me:

Carson choose to let "Tonight" stand as his career zenith and his finale, withdrawing into a quiet retirement that suited his private nature and refusing involvement in other show business projects.

In 1993, he explained his absence from the limelight.

"I have an ego like anybody else," Carson told The Washington Post, "but I don't need to be stoked by going before the public all the time."

Carson spent his retirement years sailing, traveling and socializing with a few close friends including media mogul Barry Diller and NBC executive Bob Wright. He simply refused to be wooed back on stage.

"I just let the work speak for itself," he told Esquire magazine in 2002.

and

"America never tired of him; Carson went out on top when he retired in May 1992. In his final show, he told his audience: "And so it has come to this. I am one of the lucky people in the world. I found something that I always wanted to do and I have enjoyed every single minute of it."

Back to Business

Too many things on my plate in recent months, particularly teaching and family, led me to disregard this new project -- the blog. Temporarily alone in the house for some weeks as wife and child holiday with family in Thailand, I have the chance to re-engage and build this.

My mind is awash with thoughts and the challenge is to order and record them. To get the ball rolling before the quiet and simplicity (which I enjoy) is displaced by the noise and complexity (which I also enjoy).

A change of plan ... for the time being this weblog will not focus on Vancouver Island life, except insofar as I am representative of this, but rather I will put down what I know and think about the life internal and external.

I don't know if anyone (or many) will come to read this humble jumble of reflections and observations, but it is to be a tool of self-reflection and sharing.