This morning I took a walk around Court Square, and I came up with an idea for bars that require their customers to go outside to smoke. Since I’m a nonsmoker this wouldn’t benefit me much, but I think my smoking friends would LOVE it, and it would be inexpensive to implement.
Smokers usually take 5 to 10 minutes outside, leaving their drink at the bar. Standard protocol to say “this seat is taken / this is not an abandoned drink” is to place a coaster or napkin on top of the drink. However, many people do not go out to bars and restaurants enough to understand this unwritten rule. Hence, the smoker comes back and is put in the uncomfortable position of having to ask for his seat back or grab his drink and find a new one.
So, why not print up some coasters that say
This seat is
TAKEN
I’ll be right back
I bet this would give the smokers a better chance of not losing their seats. This is especially true in the warm months when bringing a jacket to the bar to leave on the chair is not an option.
They really are tearing up the Walgreens facade!
I’d heard they’d got some money to redo the exterior. Can’t wait to see what they come up with. Main and Madison is prime Downtown real estate and it would be nice to have that corner looking snazzy!
Sunday brunch returns to the Brass Door today. Of course, they’ll also show the Italy-England Euro final at 2:00.
Not Downtown news, but for those of you who work in the area, Shelby County’s first Bojangles will open at 2019 Whitten Road. Excellent steak biscuits and sausage biscuits. Oh, man… making me long for the days of 15 or so years ago when I worked on Century Center Parkway.
The city is hiring part-time school crossing guards.
Congrats to Memphis 901 FC, who picked up 3 points in group standings last night with a road win over Birmingham.
Today is National Mojito Day.
Today is the start of Discovery Channel’s 2021 Shark Week.
Uh oh… the 7-day rolling average of reported COVID cases per day just crossed 100 for the first time since the stupid restrictions were lifted.
Here is the @ShelbyTNHealth #COVID19 update for Sunday, July 11, 2021. For more information, please visit https://t.co/SdCYWhYfGJ for access to the COVID-19 Data page. pic.twitter.com/4dDZj4cBSb
— Shelby County Health (@ShelbyTNHealth) July 11, 2021
That is very concerning… also the TL;DR for James Aycock’s COVID Week-in-Review is “We’re in Trouble.”
Y’all GO GET VACCINATED!!!!! Do we really want to return to groups of two bar stools, six feet apart, and a requirement to order food with alcohol? Because that’s what’s coming if people don’t get vacc’d. Go to Walgreens! That’s where I went and it is ridiculously easy (and free, even if you don’t have insurance) to make an appointment on their website.
There’s a Caribbean Foam Rave at Carolina Watershed today.
I’ve finally got unstuck on my professional writing career. Last week I wrote 11 articles (not counting posts on this blog), including 3 yesterday. This morning I was writing in my personal journal, trying to figure out what days I’m going out this week, and realized I couldn’t, beyond “Go out as kicking ass at writing permits.” It’s a good feeling. Back tomorrow with more news.