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IN DEFENSE OF ROUGE
I do not make a habit of public response to
specious claims. It is, however, troubling for me
to have a personal axe ground on my behalf.
I don't know where Mr. Michael Oarrow
[Letters, June 14] experienced his multiple dis
plays of patrimonial benevolence. In my 20 years
in the industry, I have never known employers to
give two weetu advanced notice of an impending
close or sale. The reality is that such warning
would cause no-shows to cripple operations and
send pilferage, always present, to ridiculous lev
els. A brief review of the facts:
In the four weeks prior to the closing of
Rouge, fully a third of the kitchen staff had
left to take positions in Madison, New York and
at Farm 255. The Head Chef had tendered his
notice. No new hires were made as the plan was
to run the expected slow summer on a skeleton
crew. Several servers, including two of three floor
managers, had left for the summer. To the best of
my knowledge, all the bartenders were part-time
and had other jobs. There were nothing like “over
30" full-time employees left.
What did happen? Payroll was met, with
cheques issued at their regular interval. Purveyor
accounts were settled. Creditors will continue to
be paid in the absence of a revenue stream. Five
of the most experienced remaining employees
were folded into the schedule at the Last Resort
Grill. Others are picking up shifts there while
they look for other jobs.
The sudden loss of your sole income is a dev
astating occurrence. I will attest to the readers
of Mr. narrow's magniloquei active that steps
to mitigate the fallout of Rouge's quick demise
were taken. While the details need not be public.
those who made personal sacrifices on behalf of
Rouge were compensated.
In the years that I have know Jaamy
Zarnegar, he has gone beyond the call of station
to assist his employees in times of difficulty
more times than I can count He is true to his
friends and true to his word, and I would disas
sociate myself from Mr. narrow's slander.
Robert M. Blackburn
Athens
IN DEFENSE OF R0U6E.2
I am writing in response to Michael narrow's
knucklehead tirade against the owners of Rouge/
Mia Madonna, Melissa
Clegg and Jaamy
Zarnegar, in the last
edition of the Flagpole
[Letters, June 14].
narrow paints a dis
torted and unfair pic
ture of two of Athens'
finest citizens.
I have worked at
one of their other
eateries, The Last
Resort Grill, for over a year, and I have never
had employers that took such a caring interest
in their employees. The employees of Rouge/ Mia
Madonna were not just cast out into the street
as narrow proclaimed. They knew well ahead
of time that the restaurant was not doing well
and that it was only a matter of time before the
establishment closed if business did not pick up
dramatically.
Furthermore, all of the Rouge/ Mia Madonna
employees that wished to join the staffs of
Clegg's and Zarnegar's other restaurants were ac
commodated. I worked with many of them at The
Last Resort Grill just today.
Melissa and Jaamy care about their employ
ees, care about their patrons and care about
their community. They donate to dozens of local
charities and organizations. They have glorious
12-course appreciation dinners for their kitchen
staff. They throw the best Christmas party in
Athens. They pay their employees living wages,
and they are quick to offer help when one of
the extended family is in need. All of you that
come to dine at The Last Resort know of the fine
quality of the food, and I believe that you must
sense how close we all are when you grace our
establishment.
What bone Darrow
has to pick with my
employers is a mystery
to me, but I can assure
you all that he is an
outsider looking in and
he has no idea what's
going on at any of
Clegg’s and Zarnegar's
establishments. Shame
on you Oarrow. Find
something productive
to do with your time and stop slandering the fine
names of Clegg and Zarnegar.
William Matthew Powell
Athens
DOGS NOT ANGELS
Considering all the threats and horrors facing
mankind, the fuss over “Canine Angels Rescue"
["Canine Angels," June 14] is inappropriate.
First, there is the deceptive name; An “Angel*
is a spiritually pure being, fully devoted to God,
enacting compassion. But Jesus stated, “Oo not
give what is holy unto dogs, for at first they
will praise you, and then turn and tear you to
pieces!" He was referring to dog-like humans,
of course, but the metaphor is also appropriate
here, as it means: “Don't waste compassion on
beings who are not compassionate themselves,
or God-interested." Though some are worse than
others, dogs are, basically, vicious predators
only interested in their physical appetites. They
can be placated with food, displaying behaviors
mistaken as “love" and 'devotion* by their "own
ers," but that is only while they are being fed.
Stop feeding them, and they quickly revert to
their original state. Remember the packs of small
dogs, left by students, attacking mothers with
strollers on Milledge Avenue? I do. Given the
chance, they would have eaten those babies, and
the mothers, too! A child is hospitalized with a
dog bite in the United States every 32 seconds.
My extremely gentle and sweet baby sister was
mauled by a neighbor's "friendly* dog, requiring
reconstructive surgery on her face. I was there,
and guarantee that she did nothing to taunt it
So dogs certainly aren't “angels," and nei
ther are those running this operation. An angel
wouldn't, with all the threats and horrors facing
mankind, devote themselves to rescuing vicious,
not-God-interested predators. And also because,
unless the dogs are fed vegan chow (it exists),
they are being fed the remains of slaughtered
cows, sheep and other, far more gentle, crea
tures. If you kill one creature to feed another,
you rate a big fat “zero" on the compassion
scale. If you kill a gentle creature, like a cow, to
feed a vicious predator, you rate even lower. And
that's even less angelic!
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