Editorial
Front Page - Friday, April 16, 2010
View from the Cheap Seats
Traveling man
Bill James
WmJamesJr@aol.com
I have often envied people that get to travel for work. The idea of traveling for a living seems romantic. I can tell you that now that I have spent three out of the last four weeks in a hotel room, the romance is fading quickly.
I really kind of want to go home. I am in Clarksville at mile marker 55.
I never got off on this exit on my travels. When I traveled through, I would always stop at mile marker 58. When I was in Eureka Springs two weeks ago, I mentioned to a shopkeeper that the next trial I had was in Clarksville.
He said something very derogatory about the town. I did not understand why he said what he said, but I have some understanding now.The town itself is quaint. The courthouse and the Town Square are beautiful. The people are friendly. The main complaint I have is that there is not very many good places to eat here in Clarksville. When I stopped in the past on my way through to places west or coming back to Little Rock, I always found that the McDonald’s and the Wendy’s could provide me with all I needed. I am staying in a Holiday Inn Express that is next to an Arby’s.
It is across the highway from the Western Sizzler, which is the place I originally figured I would eat at the most, prior to my discovering it was closed down. There is nowhere to eat within walking distance from the courthouse. This is not a problem until the Judge tells you that the lunch break for those of us in jury selection will be 15-20 minutes which is what happened today. The Judge seemed a little less than sympathetic.
This may be explained by the fact that he had reportedly brought his own lunch. We had brought cinnamon buns to the clerk as a thinly disguised bribe, but they were already long gone.We rushed to the highway and scarfed down a combo meal at Wendy’s and rushed back only to find everyone patiently waiting for our return.
Luckily, the judge was merciful and said nothing about the fact that we had turned his 15-20 minute lunch into 25 minutes.
This is all to say that I am a little concerned about the town. How can a town prosper when the only place to get a good sandwich is the Subway that is inside of the new Super Wal-Mart? On the other hand, if Wal-Mart thinks that there is enough of a future for the town that they put in a store, then maybe there is a future.
That is until you figure out the effect on the small businesses that are trying to survive in a downtown area that is holding on for dear life. I have another ten days or so here in Clarksville. I am sure that I will learn to love it once I figure out where to eat.
Last week, I found myself at a fund raiser for Governor Beebe. Someone told me that they read these columns regularly, even though they often got half way through the column and could not figure out why they read them. I pointed out that there was always a point, you just had to finish.
The point of this column is simply this: if you are in Clarksville and are looking for good people, fast food, and a pretty courthouse, you are in the right place.
If you are looking for a fancy meal, then there is no need to stop. Food isn’t everything, but it sure is nice. Especially when you are stuck out of town way up in the CHEAP SEATS!
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