ethical considerations: mountain west burrito

the other day a handful of us hit up mountain west burrito. myself, cass, wiems, gheybin, greg, other meg, and brit p all crowded around a table in a room adjacent to a convenience store (read: smokeshop & beer). for some reason the owner chose that location to open where other tiny resturants had either closed, fled, or bailed completely (lookin at you taco r.). the near steadfast rule in opening a resturant is to never open where another had just failed seems not to deter the owner (haven't quite gotten on first name basis, which everyone should at their fav food spots), who goes about happily greeting, serving and cleaning.

somehow i think he knows what he's done.

here's why:

first he's a good looking white dude, and very affable. the picky locals are drawn towards pretty white men. and he smiles at everyone. he oozes the good kind of confidence.

second, he seems quite business savvy. i've had a couple of conversations with him about previous endeavors and he's helped start and may still be involved with a few similar operations, didn't get that far in convo with him. he's opened places like these in other college towns and he seems to be banking on their model in provo. not such a bad idea.

third, he's smart enough to buy locally, and organic when available, another selling point to the picky locals, not because its more healthy, but because its a buzz they can all understand. either way, we all win, because: his food is killer. it definitely is not autentico mexicano. but it is so good. which brings me to my last point: the staff.

the food at this joint is good because his staff respect and appreciate that he respects them. i don't know if i've ever seen an owner treat his guys with such dignity. the first time me and cassie ever tried him out he was sitting out in the dining room with one of his guys playing dominoes. i'll never forget it. the owner took our order while the other guy made his last move before he got our food ready. to see latino worker treated as a person and not a commodity gives me just the tiniest bit of faith in people. it's really all i need to help keep this place going.

cornel west made this statement:

"A Leftist looks at the world through the lenses of those who are dominated, subjugated, devalued, demeaned and marginalized...."

when i first read it i felt its meaning throughout my body. whether you subscribe to leftism or not, we can find places run by businessmen who believe in helping the marginalized maintain dignity as people, and we should support them.