"Where to go to eat a fine meal"?

So "where shall we go to eat a fine meal"? You may ask this question more than once, when you are hanging out with friends, or just rather not wanting to cook at home.

Since here, where I am presently living, the amount of places to dine out at vary from El Pueblito's and Taco Johns, to Subway and McDonalds and don't forget about Sonic and, of course Dominos and Pizza Hut to only name a few of the many odds and ends places to enter, if you want a choice to wine and dine, lest I jest indeed.

Of course, lets not forget about K's Place, The Grain Bin, or Opie's, even two Chinese places/establishments, that may make your mouth "water" for more, and of course we have Arby's to round out this number of places to eat and gain a few unwanted pounds. The coffee houses are several in number, as they do not offer too much more than coffee and good conversation, but they have their own limits in what they carry and offer on any given day or day of the week.

We can always use them as the backdrop of food, fun, and some form of entertainment, with the only exception, that most are only open during the weekday, during the day. They are better than nothing, but they leave much to be desired, and some of them are only allowed to serve and provide a minimal of things to serve to the general public. How convenient is it that they only share their basic provisions as a way to help others, to become part of the very function of a small town, where the populations only grows during the time the local college is in session. The college's roster, rises to several on campus students, which consist mostly of foreign exchange students, out numbering the local academic students 10 to 1.

We see that each holds a candle to the lovely backdrop of this small town, yet they become eerily silent when the day slowly turns to night and make this day bustling town, look more like a "ghost town" due to the fact that the City Council, either made up of local business owners or others who have found a way to become part of the voting ballot to be elected onto the City Council, and after succeeding at this, then they become less than human and more like robots, with a human operator behind the scenes that are making al the decision, good or bad.

If one is to see the truth and actually follow through with the way that places to enter to for comfort and true smiles, elaborate on the idea of speaking freely without fear of being shunned by the "bigwigs", then even with some freedom, they can never truly know how much it pains them to follow and become a yes man of sorts.

It can only show outsiders, what they can expect when they arrive at the city limits, the vast and "open areas" that fill this "ghost town" with darkness and a void never to be filled with light "brighter than the sunshine". Does this reflect on one and all, who utilize or who participate in the many "few" choices for dining and/or occupy, in the places that promise fun and entertainment. I just hope they are not too disappointed and let down gently.

Even when somehow they get past the shock and unbelief of the fanfare, of the advertisements offering you a great time for eating and "hanging out", only to be filled with a possible reserve, from repeating the experience and the feeling of "never wanting to darken that places again, as the first time was "one time too much".

With the removal of so many others eating places and better visiting experiences, which have gone by the wayside, then the choices dwindle down to a trickle as if the supply has become less than one can really know. It falls on the backs of those who are never sure how to explain for the lack of places to go to and truly enjoy one's time in there. It says nothing of the service that one receives nor the staff that wait upon you, it is just that choices are so few and far between, leaving much to be desired and wished for.

Maybe its the changing of the guard or the changing of people perception of what makes this locale great, or once made it great, to a fault. As the town realizes that even with its best efforts to remain modern and updated fail more often than not, then it shows that not all are of one frame of mind. The percentage of residents are left to fend for themselves and are not left with many options that will make a difference to anyone unless all see the same picture of despair and self chaos leading to the fall of a place that was once filled with a passenger train and less drama than a daily soap opera.

The theatrics and sound stage are covered in cobwebs, the events lacking in the spark that gives the town less of a hopeful thrill, to keep most attention span for any longer than 10 minutes, yet those are 10 minutes filled the attention span of a person with ADHD. Its not the City Council complete fault, as the residents are not offered much to "work with" or to use in planning each event for a hopeful exciting venue, but it is promised to bring the crowds, and still fails on a grand scale, even a small scale for one or most.

The money is not there, the assistance is not there, the support from one or more in town resources is provided with much hesitation and resistance, and those who can help with success will not, while those who wish to help out the most are left "holding the bag", with no explanation or reason as to why the matter is "placed on the back burner", with much speculation on what is the specifics behind the demise and lack of participation, to say the least.

"How can one be filled with a hope to remain here, to want to raise one's children here, to carry on traditions and all the very things that make this township, better in the future, if the necessities needed are never offered or considered"? If one is wishing for or wanting to "magically" make them appear, after they close their eyes and dream of such, then their only hope would be to turn and run away, while they are still able to do so, as quickly as they can, without "looking back" with fear of becoming "a pillar of salt", to be held in place, for all eternity.

To realize that with all the good which is presented here, for at least to satisfy the minimal majority, with whom want to believe, their own faith in the impossible, is only met with disdain and "shaking of one's head" in disgust. "Is it the basic deception of how we all are led to the river "to gather a drink" or is it the ploy of outright blunt deception that keeps us seeking out "the dream" that may or may not ever materialize into a reality. We fall short each time and each year leads to less of us being "impressed". Yes we are only human and wish to not be lied to or deceived.

Hanging onto a thread of hope keeps us guessing and wishing for the very thing which falls under "pretty little deceptive" lies and sinful hopes that go on forever, without a start or even a possibly of a finish, all wrapped up like a Christmas present, an empty boxes dressed up all pretty and with nothing inside the box.

"How can we ever know what is true, know what being said or spoken of, each time it is spoken of, to actually be the truth, when the lies outweigh the truth, in great numbers, more often than not and by the same people, who have spoken the same things repeatedly, until the words (after being said) are the same yet worded differently each time, with an incentive of something none existent and to no avail. "How can we begin to know, whether they will "follow through", to "make good on the many empty promises", to say what they actually mean and mean what they say, instead treating us like cattle "being led to slaughter" blindly"?

It makes me feel less than impressed, when the lies mentioned by the residence of such a small community, sound more like rumors, gossip, and/or falsehoods, that do more damage than good. They leave most in a "fog" or blinded by "cloud of a dustbowl" that would leave most "choking" and devasted. I have always wanted to believe after I "see" the end result, as it would be the proof needed, to once place "faith in" the very people who have lied to one and all repeatedly for so long, without fail.

"Where did this all start"? "Where did this become less of the people's voice in voting and deciding, and more so the ones with the money, to decide that we are no longer needing the necessities to survive and flourish"? "When did the ones who reside here, become less important and less part of the greater good, while the lies grow taller and the promises less honest and true"? To know this or at the very least understand this in the whole picture, one would have to dig deeper and further into the Township's skeletons and past that many would rather "cover-up", rather hide "in the swamp" or "payoff with a bribe", in hopes that no one would decide to look to closely at the bodies stored in that special "hiding place".

One day the truth may surface, yet until those who keep it hidden, those who have the money "to burn" to keep all "at bay" and less than knowledgeable of such truth, those who are feeling boastful and slick in their thoughts, those who will eventually pass on from this process, by the time we discover, "what was right under our noses", then we will play a deadly game that no one will be found as a winner, ever.