Dearest Feastlings,
I got an email today from the Restaurant Association (and, incidentally, from half a dozen of you) saying that at last, those of us who work as “essential workers” get a crack at vaccination. And I must say, we’re fairly excited around here. No one appears to be able to get an appointment just yet- it looks like it’ll be tomorrow at 9 before we can accomplish anything- but for those of you who haven’t gotten there yet, please know it’s coming and it feels good to be added to the list. For those who have, thanks for not gloating. And for those who believe it’s dangerous, or a sham, thanks for letting those of us who believe in it give it a try and risk our well-being the same way we’ve let you risk yours by going maskless or what-have-you. I still find myself disappointed that even scientific evidence is a matter of opinion rather than fact at this point, and I’ll just cross my fingers and hope that I’m making the right guess tomorrow at 9. What I’ll say here, regardless of what any of you chooses to believe, is this: a happy as I am for restaurant workers, for obvious reasons, the people I’m happiest for right now are those who work in grocery stores. Even the punk kid who refused to let me into a Safeway five minutes before they closed at the beginning of the pandemic. And I despise him.
The fact of the matter is, while we at Feast are able to stick to a carryout-only format, the people who work at every single market and supermarket in Pima County, and everywhere else, for that matter, have for the past 51 weeks had a choice: subject yourself to a truly grave risk, or give up your livelihood. I’m the first to lament that restaurants have had a monumentally rough go of things this past year, don’t get me wrong. Or started. I’ve watched a lot of people jump jump the line, some with good reason and some with no reason other than entitlement, and frankly, at this moment, none of it matters to me- we’ll all get vaccinated in the next couple of months, those of us who want to, and whether we’ve chosen to get the vaccine or not, everyone who’s had the choice, at least, will be grateful for their own decision. I just want everyone who wants it to get it, and for those who don’t to be glad they’re not being forced to get it, and for us all to get back to whining and complaining about the little things that we used to gripe about, rather than whether our loved ones or our livelihoods will live or die.
So thanks, those of you who sent me the information, and thanks for bearing with me, those of you who don’t want to hear about it. As for me, I thought this was going to be a little snippet, and it’s already a diatribe. So I’ll just send you the menu
https://www.eatatfeast.com/dining/menus/lunch-dinner/
and a reminder about Saturday’s wine tasting
and leave it there and hope for the best. I hope each of you gets to feel soon the exuberance that I feel in feeling one step closer to normalcy, however it may come our way. And thanks, in the meantime, for your amazing and comforting support.
Love,
Doug