Day 9: Civil Rights with a side of gravy please.

Visiting the Civil Rights Museum was very humbling. The hotel where Martin Luther King was shot and killed has been turned into a pathway through history, and a very moving one at that. From the birth and abolishment of slavery, through world wars, segregation, the Nine, Rosa Parks, Malcom X, MLK, every room, every slice of time was presented with such brutal honesty, it became painful to let it all in. So many people, believing so strongly in something that everyone around them took great pains to rebel against. I passed visitors on my way through who became so overwhelmed by it all, that they would excuse themselves and rush outside for some air. Tears were even present as we all exited the auditorium after seeing a short documentary on the history of the fight for civil rights in America.

Outside the museum, you could clearly see the window where James Earl Ray was positioned as he fired the fatal show that brought down a hero.

Also outside, was a woman named Jacqueline Smith, once a maid and resident of the Lorraine Hotel, now sits outside the museum, encouraging a boycott because "the museum is a developmental scam, used to gentrify a poor, black, working-class neighborhood, so that spectators can cash in." This woman has been peacefully protesting at her booth across the hotel for 20 years, and 60 days, and seems to be an attraction as much as the site itself.

     www.fulfullthedream.net

At dinner, I encountered the most bossy server of all time. The is the conversation I overheard:

Server: And for you sir?

Young Guy: I'll have the chicken and dumplings please, with a side of gravy.

Server: You don't want gravy

Young Guy: Excuse me?

Server: You ever had chicken and dumplings?

Young Guy: Um....no

Server: It's all soupy. You don't want gravy. You get three vegetables or sides.

Young Guy: Ok, I'll have a corn muffin...um....

Server: Green beans.

Young Guy: Yeah, OK, grean beans

Server: Mashed potatos?

Young Guy: Yes, please

Server: You want gravy on THOSE?

Young Guy: Yes, ma'am

Server: You get one more. Mac and Cheese? Fried Okra?

Young Guy: (stuttering slightly) Fries?

Server: Boy, you already got mashed potatos, that's too much startch, how bout corn.

Young Guy (sweating): Yeah, ok, corn.

Server: Alright. (walks away)

Young Guy: Ok, I want to leave now. (and continues to look uncomfortable for the rest of the meal)

Side note: MY meal was served with a BOWL of gravy. Not a side, or a cup, a BOWL. It's official, I'm in the south.