WEDNESDAY'S HUM (02-06-08)

CITY MARKET VAUDEVILLE EXTRAVAGANZA
Everyday's Mardi Gras at City Market in Burlington. Walk in virtually any day and you're likely to see characters equal to the ones seen on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. And those are just the employees.
We enjoy City Markup for the entertainment, it's like going out for Halloween every time we're in there. About 3000 people enter the store each day, which allows for some doggone dang good people watching.
Some prices seems steep, but one can shop inexpensively, also. For example -you can grab a basket and throw in a slice of meat loaf and some roasted potatoes from the deli, then get some sushi from the cooler, fresh local veggies from the front, and a few ShurShine products, all for under 20 bucks. And the sideshow is free.
We stumbled on a newish local blog, Yes and No, which presents a cheeky essay on the City Market experience. The writer waxes humorously about the guy with lipstick, and the "checkers" with their unappealing ways. Check it out.

"...Most of the checkers there are young women and many have something unappealing about them: they are obese, they have hair in the wrong places, their clothes either cover too much or too little or they just seem too well educated for the job. The young men are also different - one wears lipstick and it actually looks quite good with his ear ring."

WCAX has a nice story with Jay O'Neill, a City Market bagger who is disabled. The store regularly hires individuals with disabilities.


ESSEX JUNCTION FIVE CORNERS UPDATE
Big tailgate party at the Essex Junction Five Corners light on Super Bowl Sunday. The village, knowing we were going to be idling at the light for hours, possibly days, set up a big screen TV so we could watch the Super Bowl. In fact, the the TV was HD, which gave us a better picture than most of us had at home.
There happened to be a catering truck waiting at the light, and the driver passed around munchies to us all, which was mighty nice of her. She was also worried about spoilage; maybe she was thinking the light wouldn't change 'til Tuesday or Wednesday, and the food would go bad.
A couple of Essex High cheerleaders got out of their Honda and jokingly practiced their routines, cheering for the Giants, instead of the Hornets.
A guy who looked like Belichek got out of his truck and paced the intersection, pretending he was coaching the Patriots.
A group of idlers on the Pearl Street side of the light had a beer delivery truck close by, so they bribed the driver and proceeded to deliver frosty beverages to each one of the 96 people waiting at the light. We all made sure to stop after 2 beers, ensuring that we would be fine to drive, in case the light turned green before the game ended. It didn't.

All in all, we had a great time, and kinda hated to leave when red turned to green.
And, oh yes -------------YAY GIANTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!