The time has come, Kansas City

Okay, that does it.

Kansas City, we owe it to ourselves to get at least good service at restaurants.

Don't we?

How long does this have to go on?

How long must we be exposed to people who have no idea how to wait on tables at restaurants yet they have chosen that as their vocation? (Did these people not have mothers?).

I just got back from a restaurant in Westport (it shall go unnamed), had a $10 ticket for stew and a drink yet the waitperson thought they should keep the entire $5 difference between the check and what I gave them to pay for it.

And with restaurants in town, it's always something.

I remember being at a restaurant not that long ago, on the Plaza, of all places, and the waitstaff didn't bring me anything near a bread plate.

And it was supposed to be a good restaurant. A "sophisticated" one.

In this town, it's all pretense.

I'll never forget the first time I flew into San Diego and went to dinner with my parents at a restaurant in that city.

There, in San Diego, they know the waiter or waitress is the face of the restaurant. There, they train them, before they even get near a customer, on not just how to wait on a customer--what a thought, huh?--but on the history of the place as well as what's on the menu.

Revolutionary, eh?

So the time has come, Kansas City.

Someone--someone--needs to open a school for waitstaff in this burg.

We're big enough, as a city. Millions is spent each year on dining out.

We shouldn't have to only go to the extremely expensive restaurants in this town in order to get at least good service with our meals.

It's gone on far too long.

Someone?

Anyone?

Happy National Soup Day!

Great day for it, don't you think? Bottoms up, everyone. Enjoy.

That's what I'm talkin' 'bout...

 

The above picture is one of the best and most glaring examples of what I've written about here a few times. And that is, The Kansas City Star's inability--or lack of desire or something--to write anything penetrating--and yes, potentially negative--about the state of the area's real estate, with some few, rare exceptions.

I assume the realtors have them by the throat or something.

I thought one of the most important jobs the local newspaper would be to keep the area readers and inhabitants informed on the state of one of our most important facets of our economy--that is, both the commercial and residential real estate markets.

Silly me.

The above condominium building was created in the last year or two but to this day has remained vacant. It's in a very desirable area, too, overlooking Mill Creek Park, just off the Country Club Plaza, and is a beautiful facility.

And if it were the only one--or just one of few in the area--I could understand overlooking it.

But the fact is, there is a great number of these condominiums available in the area.

And you wouldn't know it by reading the local paper.

Commercial real estate? Especially retail?

Same thing.

I would think there are more stories there.

They did have one article, a couple days ago on foreclosure notice rates in the city compared to others, nationwide and another on discounts home buyers were getting on properties--the "pretty" news, for buyers--but that's nearly it.

And sure, they'll report the opening of a new store now and again, but give the overall, big picture on real estate, especially now, when we're in a downturn?

Not really.

Not if you read The Kansas City Star.