LUNCH WITH SAINT BETTY THE AMERICAN DREAM
July 13th, 2010
Antonio’s Restaurant opened in 1964 and as Steven Antonio writes on the front of the menu: “It was a dream come true for my parents to open a restaurant, as it was for my grandparents on both sides. I too am fortunate enough to see this dream being fulfilled.” Isn’t that great? Three generations benefiting from the dreams of an immigrant from Italy coming to America. Now that’s what I call success! That’s what I call the American Dream come true. The restaurant is filled with memorabilia, and although Saint Betty ( known to some as my Mom) and I sit there for a couple hours every Saturday and have been doing so for quite some time, every week we seem to notice something new. All around the walls are framed newspaper covers spanning the years and highlighting major events in American history since the ‘60s: ”Man Walks on Moon (July 1969)” and ”Nixon Quits! (August, 1974);” Today I saw a framed cover from the Hartford Times: ”Kennedy Shot Dead in Texas (November, 1963)!” Now that was one sad day.
I’m usually hungry when we arrive (I’m not so good at feeding myself at home) so I immediately look to see what the weekly specials are; Saint Betty, being more interested in people than food, starts with the weekly Antonio family update provided by Steve on the front of the menu (This week’s good news is that they got 2 new sheep, and their children love them.! The bad news is they ran away: “The sheep not the children!” hahaha! I love small town humor). I’m hungry so I want to order right away, but it will take my Mom a few minutes to catch up on the Antonio family news and figure out what she wants. So I pour each of us a glass of our favorite wine from the bottle that our favorite waitress, Jody, always has waiting in ice when we arrive. We have a special code to let Jody know when we are ready to order: I stand a menu on the corner of the table. At the rate Saint Betty is going, that corner is going to be lonely for a bit longer.
I think a family owned business, especially when passed on for generations, is the icon of the American dream. It represents an initial aspiration, generations of hard work contributing to the success of a shared vision, and a secure future for generations to come. If you have a dream and are willing to work hard to achieve it, it can be yours: The sky’s the limit! Only in America.
Recently Jim Vicevich, a local talk show host who I often listen to on my way to client appointments, He was talking with his callers about the 3,400 General Motors and Chrysler dealerships that are being closed as part of the Obama administration auto bailouts. Jim was saying that, although all the research has not yet been completed, it appears that 9 out of 10 of those doomed businesses were owned by Republicans! This could be coincidence or just not true, of course, but it was certainly shocking to hear!
I was on my way to visit Lee, one of my favorite clients, that day. She told me about a story she recently saw on TV concerning the owner of one of the car dealerships that has been given notice. He has owned the business for his entire working career (I believe it was passed to him by his father) and he said that it is the most successful car dealership in the area; his books are open for review. He is surrounded by dealerships that are struggling, but he was the one who was targeted; he is a Republican, and wonders if that is the reason. I don’t know; I certainly hope not; the implications are just too scary.
I remember an earlier Antonio’s conversation with Saint Betty; we were discussing what the Republican Party stands for as opposed to what the Democratic Party stands for. I had some ideas, based on what I hear on “talk radio,” which I listen to all the time. But I wanted to be sure, so when I got home I went straight to the Republican and Democratic National Committee websites. On www.gop.org, I found this: “Republicans have a long and rich history with basic principles: Individuals, not government, can make the best decisions; all people are entitled to equal rights; and decisions are best made close to home. Well, I certainly agree with all that! On www.democrats.org, I found: “The Democratic Party is committed to keeping our nation safe and expanding opportunity for every American. That commitment is reflected in an agenda that emphasizes the strong economic growth, affordable health care for all Americans, retirement security, open, honest and accountable government, and securing our nation while protecting our civil rights and liberties.” Well, I certainly agree with all that too! It sounds to me like everyone really wants basically the same things!
So, what’s the big argument? We all know what the headlines are: Government bailouts of American banks, the future of American automotive companies, the Supreme Court nomination, and debate over how to balance federal and local budgets and eliminate huge deficits. These and the Presidential family travels seem to be most predominant lately. We are also well aware of what the issues are: healthcare, education, immigration, employment, social security, national security, and federal regulation of private business, immediately come to mind.
How on earth is someone like me supposed to sort all this out? Like everyone else I know, I work hard all week, and yet barely keep my bills paid. I pay my taxes and recently I caught up on a few years that I had missed, without even being asked to do so! I’m a good citizen; I vote and obey the laws and I don’t even litter. I have children and grandchildren that I love dearly and that I am so proud of. I am also concerned about their future and I worry when I listen to the news and realize that the decisions we American voters make now will affect all of their futures, perhaps more so than at any other time in history. I don’t know, the only thing I can think to do is to pay attention. I need to listen to both sides of the arguments: the Republican side, and the Democratic side; the conservative side and the liberal side. And I need to pay attention to what is happening in our country; after all, actions do speak louder than words.
There has been so much controversy about Conservatives referring to Obama as a Socialist (I’m watching someone talk about it right now). Now I have a vague idea of what Socialism is but in the interests of fair journalism (hee hee, like I’m a real Journalist), I looked up “Socialism” in Wikipedia (I use Wikipedia a lot; it’s such a handy online dictionary).
Here’s what I found: “Socialists mainly share the belief that capitalism unfairly concentrates power and wealth among a small segment of society that controls capital, creates an unequal society, and does not provide equal opportunities for everyone in society. Therefore socialists advocate the creation of a society in which wealth and power are distributed more evenly based on the amount of work expended in production.”
But wait a minute! There’s something I don’t understand. It says that, “…capitalism unfairly concentrates power and wealth among a small segment of society…” That makes it sound like capitalism just hands the wealth and power over to a random group of people; and that would certainly be unfair! I always thought that if someone is successful in our country, he or she must have earned that success. I thought capitalism was based on the premise that those who work the hardest earn the most. Maybe that’s just too simple; after all, I’m not an economist by any means and my bank account proves it!
OK, I’ll try again. It also says that, “…socialists advocate the creation of a society in which wealth and power are distributed more evenly.” More evenly based on what? That sounds pretty random too; I’m just not sure what I think about that. I kind of like a society in which wealth and power are earned through hard work, rather than just distributed evenly.
My friend Lee, who I mentioned earlier, told me that one of her children expressed the fear that, the way things are headed, it wouldn’t do him much good to work hard and be financially successful, because the more he earns, the more the government will take away from him to “redistribute.” Why work hard if half of what you earn is taken away and handed over to someone who doesn’t work as hard or doesn’t work at all? I wonder if that car dealership owner who was just forced to close his business feels like all the work he and his father put into building that business up and providing a future for his children was just wasted energy.
I would sure hate for Antonio’s to be forced to shut down; after all, it’s a small privately owned business just like the car dealership. Sure, there are plenty of other good restaurants around, but Saint Betty and I like Antonio’s. Joe is usually around and greets us with “Hi Girls!” Neither one of us is much of a “girl,” anymore, but it makes my Mom smile and that’s a wonderful thing to see.
If a successful car dealership can be forced to close; who’s to say it can’t happen to a restaurant too? And if the dealership really was forced out of business because of the owner’s political leanings, what kind of a society are we becoming? I would sure like to know what is really going on, but I think it will take awhile to figure it all out.
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I wrote this over a year ago so it is a bit out of date. But the trend I feared has continued…
Not that outdated Martha, Fox-news reports on issues I knew two years ago. By that standard your a year early, lol.