Oh Joy!  The following post is a dazzling example of how a vocal minority can move mountains.  Unlike a reticent, apathetic majority who can forfeit both good sense and progress like we saw in our local elections last Tuesday.  If I know you and you didn’t vote, be ashamed and don’t complain when they put a Gap on Lexington Ave.  ‘Nuff said.

Back to the good news of small town unity and motivation at its best:  There I was, stuffed in my seat late last night, nestled in the bright lights of Asheville’s The Noodle Shop, peeling off layers as I warmed myself from the frigid night air.  Opening the menu, I heaved a great sigh, knowing I would only find the meager, ragged options I have tasted so many times before.  I inquired into the day’s specials:  A sizzling beef platter and crispy flounder.  Explaining the sauce of the beef platter to me, my waitress referenced the famed Mongolian Beef sauce, now a special menu item of yesteryear.  My lip nearly quivered when she spoke its name out loud, that flawless orchestral symphony of sweet sugar and red-hot spice, those crisp onions, that thinly grilled beef.  She left me alone to wallow in the self pity only a small town epicure can truly enjoy.  Don’t get me going:  Why don’t we have a Vietnamese restaurant, where’s the Ethiopian food, how can Thai and sushi respectably be served at the same restaurant?  Woe is me. 

And then:  I noticed something I had never seen before on the Noodle Shop’s menu.  A mu shu dish.  Was that new?  Could they have added new items?  Am I not destined to order the same thing over and over until death or relocation do us part?  My eyes travelled down the page, hope against hope, biting my lip and rubbing my hands together as though in some kind of gluttonous prayer.  Sure enough, there it was, Lo and Behold:  Mongolian Beef is now a regular menu item at the Noodle Shop!!!!! 

Immediately I lept from my seat, running to hug the owner.  I jumped, I cheered, I applauded.  His reply:  “Everybody just kept asking for it.”  So today, I humbly sit before you to bow and tip my hat low and tell you, Asheville Reader, thank you, thank you, thank you for all you have done to make this dream a reality.  I hope you will amply reward your trusty shop owner by ordering this fabulous meal and letting him know you appreciate its constant presence on their menu. 

If we could only bring this kind of mass participation and energy to getting our bills signed into laws or our candidates voted in, imagine what a town this could be!