am I a peasant?

[johncomic]

For years, all I ever knew about IHOP was that it was an apparently easy punchline for standup comics, and “IHOP waitress” was a standup shorthand similar to “trailer trash”. Déclassé would appear to be one of the kinder terms for this place.

Then about a month ago, we went to Buffalo on a shopping trip, and Paisley's fella Kyle suggested we have lunch at IHOP. So I finally got to go there and see for myself.

For basic unpretentious food, we all found the quality perfectly satisfying and the prices very reasonable. Those of us who had never been there before were very pleasantly surprised and glad we had come. And, for the record, our waitress was attractive, personable, witty, and very good at her job.

Yesterday we did Buffalo again, and had pretty much decided on the way down that it would be IHOP for lunch again. This experience was a duplicate of last time, right down to the bright and lovely waitress. For my tastes, I can't see anything so wrong with this place.

In fact, yesterday we noticed that they were playing jazz (how many other places do that anymore, besides *$?), and one of those jazz tunes I caught was Thelonious Monk! I'm sorry, but that right there earns IHOP cool points that no one will ever be able to take away...

So is the problem simply my own tastes? Am I inherently some sort of lowbrow lowlife that can't distinguish trash from treasure? Or am I simply not cynical and elitist enough to pass for “truly cool”? I'm honestly not sure I care, nor really worried about whether I should care. I feel more like “What's supposed to be so wrong with this place? Or, what's wrong with people that need to put it down?”

Comments

[viridescence13]

Good point. The Internet has really allowed for niche markets to flourish where it's possible. Your guitar example is quite apt.

Of course, in some arenas it's more about quantity than quality. There was a time when getting a book published was quite a feat; sure, there have always been the small publishing houses and vanity presses, but getting your work out to the masses meant one of the big guns. Now anybody can easily and inexpensively become a published author thanks to print on demand and e-books. Is this a good thing? I don't know, but this path is going to lead me into a rant about people responding that they're "writers, too!" when I say that I'm a freelance writer...and I don't want to go there. =)

[ginsu.livejournal.com]

Sure. For the purposes of that discussion I define a writer as someone whose income is primarily earned by writing. (Mine is entirely earned by writing.)

It's true e-books can be written and published by anyone, but I'm not concerned about that. The world has always rewarded writers who skillfully fulfill audience interests, and punished writers who only try to please themselves (and often don't even do that). Similarly, writers who understand and leverage basic principles of marketing do better; writers who can't be bothered, and falsely equate marketing with advertising, do worse.

I expect all of that will continue however many wannabes e-publish.

[abbeyrd.livejournal.com]

HEY. This has nothing to do with IHOPs or other chains (although I did enjoy Cracker Barrel when I was there in MI a week and a half ago!), but Wes, you should email me and tell me what happened to Yap.

(Sorry for the hijack, Curmudge.)

[ginsu.livejournal.com]

Dal address still work? It's the only one I have.

[abbeyrd.livejournal.com]

Yep, that or cshannahan at gmail.

[johncomic.livejournal.com]

“(Sorry for the hijack, Curmudge.)”

Garrrr....


;)