Seattle Waitress Does Nothing Of The Sort

There's a post up on Sound Politics that is a perfect example of the right-wing skill of making something up out of whole cloth and then pretending it's true. Supposedly a waitress in Seattle- Well, we'll let them tell it:

This is based on a true story although a few of the details have been changed: When a diner at a Seattle restaurant ordered a New York Strip Steak from the menu, the waitress refused to serve him. Why? She is an animal rights activist and member of PETA and insisted that she is morally unable to serve meat. Instead, she referred the customer to another restaurant.

No link to any collaborating source, no citing of any collaborating source, just a completely bullshit story and a qualification, "a few of the details have been changed." Like what kind of details? That it happened in Seattle? That it involved a, gasp, PETA member? That it happened at all and is not, in fact, complete bullshit? Could this possibly have happened? In the minds of Red America, stuff like this happens every day in places like Seattle, but there is no way this is even loosely based in reality. Can it be any more obviously a direct retaliation for the stories of things that actually go on in pharmacies around the country?

However, once Seattlest was refused a San Peligrino by someone behind the counter at Still Life (good riddance) because it was "too pretentious." They should have referred us to another restaurant by saying, "Why don't you try someplace else that will still exist in two years?"

Contact the author of this article or email tips@seattlest.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Dan in Food, News on May 5, 2006 1:08 PM

Comments [rss]

Jeremy M Barker

It's hilarious, isn't it, when right-wingers' twin beefs (i.e., free markets and social conservatism) collide? Personally, I give this one to Sharansky--way to stick it to the anti-birth control pharamcists. As for Mr. Hal Franken, I would think he'd be happy having someone--anyone--take Sharansky seriously at all, since he's generally regarded as a poor writer and poorer researched (why exactly did The Stranger fire him?). But that might be asking too much--anyone naming themselves "Hal Franken" is clearly boorishly obsessed with talking heads and the chattering classes that clog the web these days, to be sopped up by the intellectually disinterested in place of real news or debate.

Hal Franken

Is this a political blog? Assuming everyone shares your leftist slants is going to cut down your readership/ad revenue quite a bit. Get over yourselves.

Dan

Sharkansky closes the trap on his readers:

UPDATE: As I wrote at top "This is based on a true story although a few of the details have been changed". As many of you figured out, there is no actual case involving a waitress refusing to serve steak (at least none that I'm aware of), this is really about the controversy involving pharmacists refusing to fill certain prescriptions. Naturally, many readers find the actual pharmacists' moral objections more compelling than those of the hypothetical waitress. I'm inclined to agree with those who commented that if a customer seeks to purchase a legal product that the vendor wishes to sell, the vendor's employees are obligated to sell the product. An employee who is morally unable to serve her customer a legal product owes it to everyone involved to get a different job.

Ronald

Now, me, if I'd been the waitress [no, wait, waiter], I'd have said, "Sorry, sir, out here in the wild, wild West, our most popular steak is the Auburn Stripmall, and our most flavorful cut is the Belltown Broil.

Nope, none of them furrin Frankfurters or Hambugers, neither. Comment, monsieur? Poulet de Bresse? Jamais!

Jake of 8bitjoystick.com`

Oh that Sharkansky is such a stickler for finding out the truth before he goes and says something insane and inflammatory about Seattle and the Democratic party. He really gives bloggers a good look and he is so ethical and responsible with his media position.

All kidding aside most people I know in Washington state political circles think that Sharkansky is a lying sack of crap about 99.999% of the time.

Seth

In short--Sharkansky's been had.

Seth

You've missed the point--this is actually brilliant propaganda from the LEFTIES! By turning the pharamcist situation on its head--creating an exact analogy that would annoy a right-winger as much as anti-birth control pharmacists annoy a left-winger--they've demonstrated the absurdity of the pharmacists' position.