Odd sighting at beach...

While at the beach this morning, I noticed the following on a number of vehicles at our beach "park", as a lot of people like to refer to it as. There were many cars with this stuck in the driver's side window:

There are a couple of odd things about this. First, these were business card size and I think that they were a bit old as the website identified is no longer in service. You'll notice that the Lake Worth location is not listed, which is strange since people seeing this may not think it was for use at the chain's Lake Worth location. The other ironic item is the reference that it applies to FPL employees. I don't think I need to explain the irony of that to a Lake Worth population, but it probably relates to the other Mulligan's locations listed on the card and their proximity to FPL's corporate offices.

If you are in business and are going to do this, is it too expensive for Mulligan's to print out 500 business cards, with current website and Lake Worth-specific information? You could restrict yourself to handing them out to patrons at the door, and not distribute them throughout the public parking lot.

If you want to see Mulligan's currently active website, you can click here. You will notice that the Lake Worth location is one of six outlets, so let's be clear that those that inked the lease with Mulligan's did not care if it was part of a chain in our Casino building. It replaced John G's, a family business, that had been there for almost 40 years and was a destination for many. Mulligan's also has a Facebook page and if you go there you will find out that they are open for Thanksgiving. Here is their poster proclaiming that:

So sorry, Mulligan's employees, we can add your employer to the list of those corporations that are open for Thanksgiving and require their employees to work on a national holiday, usually devoted to the company of family and friends, offering thanks for those relationships, freedoms and material comforts that we enjoy as a country. It is also a national day of service for many in the opening of kitchens and hearts to those that may not be able to enjoy the typical Thanksgiving meal for economic or other reasons. This week's Lake Worth Herald lead story above the fold is about the Farmer Girl restaurant that for 30 years has opened its doors for free Thanksgiving meals that day, no questions asked, to anyone who is in need. The owners are thankful and giving back, the real reason some celebrate the holiday.

Here is the photo of those responsible for bringing Mulligan's to us celebrating their grand opening at the Casino building. Just so you don't forget:

And, let's get back to the matter of those cards being placed on vehicles. There is a whole section of the Lake Worth code that prohibits this sort of advertisement on vehicles, or through other means.

I am not sure what the policies of the other tenants at the beach are regarding opening hours on Thanksgiving. Some may be open, others may not be, but we do know that Mulligan's is indeed open and you can make your choices according to your own convictions. I've only been to Mulligan's a total of three times and found their food expensive (perhaps the reason for the 15% discount?) in relation to the quantity and quality of both the food and the service there. When people from out of town visit, I never think of Mulligan's as an option. And then there is the inconvenient parking made necessary by the over-riding desire to "save the Casino building", that ended up being demolished anyway.

We can thank those pictured for those series of decisions. These were the people in charge that were so consumed and concerned with stopping the "over-commercialization" of our beach and maintaining the public purpose of it all.