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Holly Lake Effect

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InJapan-the food's purty but is it edible?
Think America is ahead of everybody in everything? I've long been a supporter of our total superiority. But recently I went to Japan and I discovered that we're not quite up to the level of some of the other occupants of this planet-namely the Land of the Rising Sun.
For instance-in what hotel, restaurant or other public facility can you find a public toilet that has both a heated "puffy" seat and a bidet and an automatic flush-all at the same time? Where can you find an ordinary restaurant (nothing particularly fancy-at least from the outside) and be shown to your seat by ladies in silk kimonas, moving quietly as mice, who hand you a wonderfully soft napkin, pour you a cup of green tea and then quietly begin to serve you a non-stop succession of beautiful food? You don't even have to worry about the menu-you get a little bit of everything-fish, mushroom, beef, ginger root, fruit-the list is endless. You don't have to try to attract the waitress's attention to get your cup filled with tea-it happens as if by the power of suggestion. Tea? You think... "More warm tea?" It's there-being poured by a delicate hand which is attached to the lovely figure of a woman who seems to have been born just to make you happy at mealtime.
The place is quiet-oh so quiet. So quiet you're reluctant to talk about baseball or politics. You just want to hum a bar or two of some soft melodious song and maybe offer a string of compliments to the people dining with you. You feel that everything is right with the world, regardless of what might be going on in other less fortunate parts. You get a sense of wellbeing that seems non-stop.
But-and there's a bit of that too in the story about the restaurant. You like your fish cooked? You like your octopus well done? You like your tofu fried or you don't like tofu at all? You don't have a choice. This is Japan. They do the cooking and you are expected to do the eating. None of this raising your voice to the waitress while looking at your steak- "you call this medium rare? Show me the pink. There's gotta be pink." You wouldn't think of saying anything like that in a Japanese restaurant. Not that your waitress wouldn't stand there smiling prettily while pouring you more hot tea. Not that she wouldn't whisk your plate away as softly as if it were a just- fallen tree leaf and replace it so quick you hardly notice it with another piece of tofu. What? You don't like tofu. This is Japan- come on- tofu is a national dish of Japan second only to raw tuna. What I'm saying here is you have to be a little bit brave to take on sushi-an object of certain artistic merit but with certain unrecognizable elements. You have to forget that there's no Worcestershire Sauce in a bottle on the table, no French Fries with your little piece of steak, no tartar sauce with your little bit of fish. America is strong with the "go withs" No French Fries without ketchup. No coffee without cream and sugar. And always food which lets you know that at some point in its life it has been cooked. Or at least that it's been near a stove.
Many of us, after having been in Japan or another part of the globe where they do things differently, wonder how long an adult American can survive on uncooked squid and seaweed even though we realize the stuff is hugely healthy.
Every part of the world has its quirks. America has all the possible quirks that can be found anywhere in the world. But wait-Japan is catching up. You don't have to walk very far in Tokyo before your eyes detect a MacDonald's or a Kentucky Fried Chicken. The only thing that's worrisome is-did they bring their original recipes with them? Their deep fat fryers? And is their mustard, mayo and "Bubba's Barbecue Sauce" on the table? Check if out before you go.