Back on the Chain Gang

“I yearn for you so hard.”

Email quote from Melinda’s boyfriend on the Real World: Austin, discussing his feelings for his estranged girlfriend.

I love that quote.

Anyway, I tweaked the aesthetic formatting a little bit. I felt that with the font I was using that I was yelling, so it’s now a little less bold. Anyway, here is what I really want to say today.

With all due respect to What About Bob, Ghostbusters and Caddyshack, Groundhog Day is Bill Murray’s best film. It’s certainly not his funniest film, but when it comes to morals of the story, originality and filmmaking, it is the best of show (despite Andie McDowell’s best efforts to fun-extinguish the entire film).

One of the reasons it’s such a great movie (besides the fact that “Phil” couldn’t leave Groundhog Day until he improved himself as a human being – great character arc), is because you can apply the lessons, the jokes, the melancholy demeanor of the main character, to so many aspects of life. Sick and tired of the repetitiveness of your job? You probably feel like you are stuck in Groundhog Day. You and your friends doing the same thing every weekend? Groundhog Day. Going through the motions intimacy-wise with your significant other? Groundhog Day.

So I live in the suburbs of Denver, Colorado. Within a short drive, I get all the culinary conveniences of suburban life – Chili’s, Red Robin, Olive Garden, Applebee’s, Outback Steakhouse, Noodles & Company, Chipotle … Not long ago; I visited my alma-mater in Lawrence, Kansas – the typical Midwestern college town. Lawrence isn’t exactly Denver, but you can dine at Old Chicago, Chili’s, Applebee’s, IHOP... Last Thanksgiving, I visited Chicago, where I could shop and dine at all the above-mentioned establishments. Groundhog Day.

I am all for a free-market economy and I am well aware that there was a day when McDonalds was a local business, but I have grown sick and tired of all the national chains.

There is something to be said about expectations – and when I go to the Olive Garden, I know exactly what I am signing up for. But there is also something to be said for trying something new and supporting local business. Given the choice between eating lunch at Old Chicago’s or eating at Free State Brewery (a local brewery located only in Kansas), I am going to choose the latter every time. When I look at most suburban Americans, I don’t see them choosing their local businesses anymore. I hear them saying how having a nice dinner at Joe’s Crab Shack is a fine-dining, seafood experience.

When a city does a “best of” list, how many times does it say the best ribs in town are at Chili’s? Or the best burger is at Red Robin? Never. The winners of the “best of” are always local businesses. What does that tell you?

When I was younger I remember that traveling to a new city was a unique experience. I got to shop at new stores, eat at new places and get to do stuff I didn’t get to do at home. Now when I visit different cities and states, every street looks the same and it doesn’t matter where I am at in the US. Now I make it a rule that when I am on vacation or traveling on business, I can’t eat at any place I can eat at home – which is getting harder and harder to do. Groundhog Day.

My own family is guilty of committing these very sins. My aunt and uncle came into town to visit for my birthday. My dad’s wife wanted to take them out to dinner and made reservations at Maggiano’s Authentic Italian Restaurant, which is a nice chain restaurant. But my aunt and uncle live 15 minutes from a Maggiano’s in Chicago, so why not take them to a place they can’t eat at in Chicago or to a local place so they can sample a taste of Colorado? Of course the previous night they hit Red Robin for dinner, and while in Las Vegas a few years ago, they suggested we eat at Outback Steakhouse for our final meal while eating a cold cut combo from Subway - so maybe a dinner at Maggiano’s is to be expected, and that’s exactly the problem.

I’m not trying to rip-on or single out my family, but I fear that they have become like too many Americans who have been brainwashed by the constant chain advertising and the repetition of seeing the same places over and over and over again. And, if given the choice between the old reliable chain restaurant and the local establishment that they have never heard of, they are choosing old reliable. I fear that if this continues, soon the only choice we will have when going out to eat will be between Chili’s and Applebee’s. Ugh.

I know it is tough to break away from the chain hypnosis we have all been put into by the catchy, I want my baby-back, baby-back, baby-back ribs – Chili’s, baby-back ribs-like slogans. When Red Lobster throws out that all-you-can-eat shrimp lovers deal, I can’t say no. I love a toasted sub from Quizno’s as much as the next man. And it’s frustrating when your neighborhood only has chain offerings and eating at a local establishment isn’t convenient. But just like “Phil” had to learn how to play the piano, sculpt ice and to be a selfless man, we need to learn to stop eating at Olive Garden just because it’s easy and safe.

(By the way, according to the script, “Phil” spends 10 years in Groundhog Day, so we have some time to fix these problems)

Remember that “Cheers” was a local pub (though ironically ‘Cheers’ is now a chain bar). “Monk’s Café” and “Central Perk” were not Starbucks. “Arnold’s Diner” from Happy Days was not a Gunther Toodys. Even “Rick’s” from Casablanca wasn’t a Coyote Ugly or a Moroccan chain. Often the places with the most character, the best service and tastiest food, are the establishments you find only in certain towns or those restaurants that no one has heard of. Or those little dives that are hard to find or covered in shadows cast upon them by the Best Buys, Home Depots and Bed, Bath and Beyonds of the world.

So lets start passing over the Papa Johns-like pizza places and start eating at the Pizza Shuttle-like places. And if you haven’t heard of Pizza Shuttle before, then there is a reason - and that is exactly my point.

When “Phil,” finally escapes Groundhog Day, he is elated – the streets look different, the people are different and he gets to once again experience the unexpectedness of life. I can’t wait for the day when I throw open my blinds, grab Andie McDowell’s hand and run-off to eat breakfast at Connor’s Pancake House, instead of IHOP, Village Inn or Perkins.

February 3rd will be a great day.