olé

a horrid little 'mexican' outpost up the street has this little guacamole-making cart in the front that is charming, gimmicky, and tragic all in one. situated at the foot of the front door in the midst of all this outdoor seating, it's a nice ploy to lure in clueless tourists who don't know where to go around here for real mexican. it's fine that they have the gimmicky guac cart in front, for it keeps the tourists out of the restaurants i frequent, and for that i'm thankful on an one level, but it's oddly offensive, too, for the big business behind this place is probably thinking, 'ooh, look at our lovely guacamole made by a genuine mexican on staff-- as authentic as it gets! no cans here, tourists! table of four? come right in!' and during the summer months, it's brilliant logic and marketing: guac, chips, sangria, yum. but today was the first genuinely cold day of the fall that seems have gone zero-to-sixty in about a week: it is about 48 degrees, rainy, and blustery enough to make winnie the pooh blush.

walking by on the way to meet friends at a much better restaurant, the same poor gent who is the guac maker during the fairer months was out there with the same maracas at his hip and wearing his sombrero (that has clearly seen better days) slinging avocados all the while trying to hold on to said sombrero for dear life whilst garlic peelings are going flying and rain water is blowing in the bowl. he's clearly not a happy camper, and watching him left me to wonder why it would be SO hard for the restaurant to make the goddam guac in the kitchen. instead, as he's trying to hold on to his hat, supplies, and self-respect, a bus-load of tourists let out just as he was getting ready to bring it inside to the, undoubtedly, gaggle of southern tourists. so help me, two of them, not missing a beat, go running up to the cart and get a quicker-than-a-new-york-roach picture in front of the cart taken by a third who looked a bit like lucille ball if she were in her 30s today. perhaps one of the more disturbing things i've seen in awhile in my little enclave down here. poor guac-making dear.