We had a Norwegian Forest cat, a paladin, who adopted us. He had a door I made him to fit a double-sash porch window. The portal was his license to kill.
This cat once stood off an entire family of aggressive raccoons at that window. With elan.
We were in such awe of his prowess, we accepted his trophies of carrion with gratitude.
Good. I like to think there’s still a touch of common sense civility left here. I think it was '87 I went to Yazoo City , MS with a good friend who happened to be Black, and I had to go to the Piggly Wiggly to get some ingredients for his grandma because it was White day. I almost fell into a depression thinking about that. Not one person of color in the store. Freaked the sht otta me.
My besty has a Norwegian. Just beautiful. Huntin’ nut, too.
I miss my best buddy, too. 
Wait, what??
My dog. Midnite was a blue tick/black lab. Black tick I always called it.
No, I was reacting to White Day. Surely not for real??
LLM, I was wondering the same thing. I grew up in NC and never heard of such a thing even when I was a child in the 1960s.
Eating out is really not enjoyable anymore. Between the restaurants/food, the costs and the other guests, the whole experience is dead to me. The only time I’m in a restaurant these days is when friends/family make the plans. I say that as a 20+ year veteran of the hospitality industry. Feh. Just not enjoyable. The furniture is only a symptom.
Shame. I greatly enjoy dining out still.
Not a shame to me. Definitely not missing anything. Glad you still give them money. It’s interesting watching the industry die off.
I don’t know where you live, but the industry seems to be doing just fine, save for staffing issues since the pandemic. 
New York City where the closings are constant and they are replaced by banks, places that last less than a minute because no one needs a Kombucha emporium, or we get another national chain. I keep hearing that mom & pop shops are disappearing and being replaced by chains and that there are places where there are only chains to eat at in strip malls. You get the food supply chain you deserve.
I’m here for it:
Hm. Judging from the manifold posts about dinners and restaurants on the NYC board, I don’t see the citizens of New York lacking in dining choices, nor do they seem to be starving just yet 
Hopefully, some restaurants will be still be open in the fall.
Yep. Fortunately, that isn’t what I said. There’s still plenty of street meat vendors for me to support. Thanks for looking out for us.
Raising Cane’s will still be here. Don’t worry.
Thank goodness! I might finally try one, since I couldn’t be arsed to check out the one in my hometown.
The quality aspects of the industry may be dying off, but I think more people are dining out than ever before.
Right. Quality dining is dying. More money is spent on fewer transactions. Where they are dining is changing. The industry is definitely not what it was.
One irony I wish would get researched is that the more people develop a deep interest in and aptitude for cooking, the less likely they are to dine out–at least for food that’s in their wheelhouse.
All these years of aspirational cooking shows haven’t been especially kind to the restaurant industry.
