A Slow Day in the Slow Lane
Brother, can you spare a Dostoevsky?
Two panhandlers have staked out the sidewalk in front of the 46-year-old Caravan bookstore on Grand Avenue in L.A. The other day owner Leonard Bernstein noticed that after he set a table of discount books out front, one of the panhandlers stopped to peruse them.
Up walked the second street person, who said to his counterpart, “Slow day, eh?”
Commented Bernstein: “I guess one of them didn’t want to be caught reading on the job.”
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MORE CANDIDATES FOR TV’S “COPS”: Having been away on vacation for two weeks, I wanted to catch up on some of the more disturbing crime trends in the Southland so as to alert readers.
For instance, the Los Alamitos News-Enterprise reported these two calls to police from residents of Cypress:
Moody Street, 12:07 p.m.: “A customer of a strawberry vendor argued that the berries were not fresh.”
Anegada Street, 12:47 a.m.: “A resident complained that someone was making bird-type noises for 15 minutes, which was coming from a wild bird in the tree.”
And the Seal Beach Sun’s police log contained this item:
Southshore Drive, 9:41 p.m.: “A woman called police when she saw a man crawling on the roof of her two-story home when her husband was taking the dog for a walk on the beach. It turned out to be the woman’s son.”
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ADVENTURES IN DINING: For today’s selections (see accompanying), we bring you tips from M.I. Burton, who noticed an offering of soups that figure to be very spicy; Brian Danley, who found a sandwich for light eaters; and Ken Krafthefer, who photographed a real bargain: Buy 3 and guess what? You get 3!
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MCWACKY: Two innovations of McDonald’s mogul Ray Kroc that were not successful, according to David Halberstam in his book, “The Fifties”:
* The Hulaburger, which “Kroc loved and which featured two slices of cheese and a piece of grilled pineapple.”
* A Fold-a-Nook, which consisted of “two benches and a small table that folded down from the wall and thereby made a small kitchen seem roomier.”
Kroc did make a wise decision, however, when he bought out the founders of the chain, Dick and Maurice McDonald. Kroc retained the business’ name. Wrote Halberstam: “He did not think that a chain named Kroc’s would have the same appeal.”
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SIZE THIS ONE UP: In the Los Altos mall in Long Beach, there’s a store called: “Little Barney’s Big and Tall.”
miscelLAny:
As for that strike by actors in television and radio commercials, Tom Martin of Riverside wonders if he has to stop watching commercials to show his support for the performers. “I’m willing to make that sacrifice,” he added.
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Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LATIMES, Ext. 77083 or by fax at (213) 237-4712.
