![\"Willow](\"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Willow-Facebook-Burger1.jpg\")
\n(Willow\u2019s secret experiment- don\u2019t tell anyone how much it costs! Photo Socotra).<\/p>\n
\n(Willow\u2019s secret experiment- don\u2019t tell anyone how much it costs! Photo Socotra).<\/p>\n
Old Jim called me up to ask if I was going to stop by Willow on the way home. It was a tipping point- left to my own devices I would have just gone home to Big Pink and enjoyed the mellow afternoon sun that threatened to be overwhelmed by a rear-guard action of the winter that won\u2019t quit.<\/p>\n
But I enjoy the human company, and the workplace has been quite dynamic as the Government Customer rouses from its long torpor. I told him I would be by, and got back to work.<\/p>\n
Work is good, considering the alternative, and I had the radio going in between conference calls to stay abreast of the investigation into what happened in Boston, and the why of it. I wondered if there would be a Blue Ribbon Panel established, as they did in the aftermath of the attacks on the Marine Barracks in Beirut, or Khobar Towers or the USS Cole Attack.<\/p>\n
Nothing as big as the 9\/11 Commission, certainly, but something to collect what went wrong. I did not hear anything like that, but who knows. Maybe we will try to learn something about how and why this happened. I have my doubts.<\/p>\n
Anyway, when it finally got to the time when I could sling my back-back on the hook under the bar at Willow, I was done with that for the day. I looked over at Jim where he was sucking on a long-neck Bud and told him I could not bear to delve much further into the sordid and pathetic lives of those two welfare losers in Boston.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can understand the process of radicalization. To a degree I have felt the process myself, as society appears to be continuing a trajectory toward disaster. The trend is that more of these events are happening. What is a citizen to do, when everything is going in the wrong direction?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHave a drink,\u201d growled Jim.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t mind if I do,\u201d I responded, and yawned. I am not getting enough beauty sleep these days. Brett appeared, Genie-like, and poured a crisp and impertinent glass of white into a tulip glass. I raised it to my lips and let some pour over my soft palate, down the throat and into a warm spot in my mid-section. \u201cNot bad.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chris the Sommelier and Barkeep Extraordinaire wandered down to talk to the regulars. I asked him if he was having a burger-of-the-week special, and he shook his head. \u201cWe are taking a break on that this week. We have an experiment going on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jim and I exchanged glances. We have both been the subject of other people\u2019s experiments before, usually to no constructive outcome. \u201cWhat sort of experiment?\u201d I asked suspiciously.<\/p>\n
Chris leaned forward, his Devil Dog tattoo on his right forearm right with color. \u201cWe are having a Facebook burger.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last week it was an egg-topped apple-bacon cheeseburger with barbeque sauce, a sort of bar counterpoint to Tracy O\u2019Grady\u2019s finer cuisine in the main dining room. \u201cWhat on earth is a Facebook burger?\u201d asked John-with-an-H.<\/p>\n
\u201cAh,\u201d said Chris with a mysterious smile. \u201cIt is our usual Willow burger, two patties of organic-raised beef with a nice slice of Bermuda onion, cheddar cheese melt and a big pickle on the side.\u201d<\/p>\n
I am off beef at the moment, but I am an enthusiastic follower of scientific experiments, like Congress. \u201cSo what is the secret about your usual burger?\u201d<\/p>\n
Chris looked up and down the bar and leaned in, conspiratorial. \u201cWe posted it on our Facebook page, and priced it at $5 bucks.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFive bucks? That is a fabulous price! You couldn’t buy the ingredients at for that, even if you cooked it yourself!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRight- it would be a loss-leader if we featured it. What we are doing is trying to see who is visiting the page, and hopefully mold behavior.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t use Facebook,\u201d growled Jim.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen you will pay the usual price,\u201d responded Chris. \u201cWe are in new territory here. Cutting edge.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey say the Jihadis were twittering and Facebooking all their lame stuff,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
Jim looked over at me with a wry smile. \u201cI thought you weren\u2019t going to talk about them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not. I am talking about social media and hamburgers.\u201d I looked up at Chris. \u201cHow many special priced sandwiches have you sold?\u201d<\/p>\n
He pursed his lips. \u201cAbout five, so far.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMake it six,\u201d said John-with. \u201cSpecial price, please. I saw it on Facebook.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chanteuse Mary and The Lovely Bea arrived and watched as Jon-without made it seven, saying he had seen it on social media. I had another glass of wine, and felt it impact my system. I ate John-with\u2019s pickle, which was as far down that road as I felt I could go.<\/p>\n
I gathered my crap together as Jon-without\u2019s burger arrived. \u201cI am going to take off,\u201d I said. \u201cCatch me up on the lesson\u2019s-learned for this on Friday, would you?\u201d<\/p>\n
Jim nodded solemnly. \u201cHopefully we will know more by then,\u201d he said, and ordered another Bud.<\/p>\n
\u201cI sure hope so,\u201d I said. \u201cIt would be nice if somebody did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Copyright 2013 Vic Socotra
\nwww.vicsocotra.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
(Willow\u2019s secret experiment- don\u2019t tell anyone how much it costs! Photo Socotra). Old Jim called me up to ask if I was going to stop by Willow on the way home. It was a tipping point- left to my own devices I would have just gone home to Big Pink and enjoyed the mellow afternoon […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-socotra"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5213"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5213\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5215,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5213\/revisions\/5215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}