Overheard in the kingdom

[drcorey]

CBeilby....I'll bring the salt...I've got plenty in the cabinet. Purpura - we've got one of those, too lol (my daughter collects flamingos)....we also have a stuffed one from Animal Kingdom.

but a not true parrothead I guess.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBsPZV14I-k

[knitster]

You should go to the Maui Lavender Farm.

I've yet to make it to Hawaii, but I grew up in NM and have been here many times http://www.lospoblanos.com/lavender_farm/ yum!

[Mr. D.]

Items withheld to protect the oblivious and the delirious.

SG: May I ask you a question?

CM: Sure! (first mistake)

SG: Why did they build that bathroom that way? I mean it's stupid, the men's room is on one side and the ladies room is on the other.

CM: ...

SG: Don't you think that's just stupid?


CM: :dropmouth


SG: Well?

CM: Oh, you were serious? Well hang on, now I'm curious, let me call someone to find out. Wait right here, it might take me a little while, but wait right here.

I know this was posted a while back, and I also know what kind of bathrooms the guest was refering to which makes him a SG. But when I read this, what popped into my head was the restrooms at the Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel. The ladies room is right as you walk into the lobby just to the right. The mens room is through the lobby, into the lounge area, past the bar around the corner and down a hallway. Not sure why they did that, but since the building was built in 1908 I would say they had some reason for it back then.

[Zazu]

I know this was posted a while back, and I also know what kind of bathrooms the guest was refering to which makes him a SG. But when I read this, what popped into my head was the restrooms at the Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel. The ladies room is right as you walk into the lobby just to the right. The mens room is through the lobby, into the lounge area, past the bar around the corner and down a hallway. Not sure why they did that, but since the building was built in 1908 I would say they had some reason for it back then.

The reason for the odd restroom arrangement in the headhouse at the Chattanooga Choo Choo is that the mens room is the original White mens room, while the ladies room is new construction in the area that used to be the Colored waiting room.

The original White ladies room was removed during remodeling. The original Black restrooms were, I believe, outside the south side of the building, not indoors.

I spent several years in that lobby at the concierge desk, and I can still wake up from a dead sleep saying, "Through the lounge and left!"

Zazu,
Historical Interpreter and Concierge, retired
Chattanooga Choo Choo Hilton/Holiday Inn

[Big Wallaby]

Zazu,
Historical Interpreter and Concierge, retired
Chattanooga Choo Choo Hilton/Holiday Inn

The other day, I was in Columbia, SC, where it would seem that the racism has been overcome. Three days prior, I had spent the night in Chattanooga, but wasn't there long enough to see.

If Chattanooga is enough like Columbia, it's too bad they didn't keep the original construction with plaques, to show how ugly racism once was, and still is when practiced.

But then, you wouldn't want that in a hotel.

[Zazu]

The other day, I was in Columbia, SC, where it would seem that the racism has been overcome. Three days prior, I had spent the night in Chattanooga, but wasn't there long enough to see.

I don't think we'll ever overcome racism in this culture, but Chattanooga has done as well as most and better than many.

... it's too bad they didn't keep the original construction with plaques, to show how ugly racism once was, and still is when practiced.

But then, you wouldn't want that in a hotel.

No, but we did have it on the Tennessee Valley Railroad in town. :locomotiv Good story that:

I was working as a Conductor, and part of the spiel as I punched tickets was to tell the history of the car they were riding in. One Sunday afternoon, I entered a car to find it half filled with an extended family -- looked like at least four generations -- all dressed like they had come straight from Church, which they probably had.

That particular car was a "Jim Crow" car. A partial divider down the middle, and two restrooms at each end of the car. It no longer had the "white" and "colored" signs, and we had upholstered the wicker seats in the "colored" end to match the "white" end so it was no longer obvious which end was which, but that was the story the car had to tell.

I'm white, the family was most definitely black, and I wondered if I should tell the usual story to take a pass. "Aw, nutz!" I said to myself, "It's history, and that's what I'm here for," and proceded to tell them about the car, it's history, and what it meant that it was now an oddity.

The reaction was fascinating. Their parents were all shushing me, saying, "We don't need to hear about that, it's all behind us." The youngest generation was all, "No way! Who'd put up with that BS!" And then the (great) grandparents piped up with, "You young'uns need to know this so it doesn't happen again. Let me tell you how it was...."

And at that point, I saw that my job was done, and that the dinner conversation that night would surely be instructive for the kids who had never seen a sign saying "colored".

As it turned out, it was all good practice for the day I told Spike Lee to sit in the back; but that's another story.... ;)

[Mr. D.]

The reason for the odd restroom arrangement in the headhouse at the Chattanooga Choo Choo is that the mens room is the original White mens room, while the ladies room is new construction in the area that used to be the Colored waiting room.

The original White ladies room was removed during remodeling. The original Black restrooms were, I believe, outside the south side of the building, not indoors.

I spent several years in that lobby at the concierge desk, and I can still wake up from a dead sleep saying, "Through the lounge and left!"

Zazu,
Historical Interpreter and Concierge, retired
Chattanooga Choo Choo Hilton/Holiday Inn

Interesting. You are my new best friend. I am trying ti dig up any and all information I can about that station. :)

I don't think we'll ever overcome racism in this culture, but Chattanooga has done as well as most and better than many.



No, but we did have it on the Tennessee Valley Railroad in town. :locomotiv Good story that:

I was working as a Conductor, and part of the spiel as I punched tickets was to tell the history of the car they were riding in. One Sunday afternoon, I entered a car to find it half filled with an extended family -- looked like at least four generations -- all dressed like they had come straight from Church, which they probably had.

That particular car was a "Jim Crow" car. A partial divider down the middle, and two restrooms at each end of the car. It no longer had the "white" and "colored" signs, and we had upholstered the wicker seats in the "colored" end to match the "white" end so it was no longer obvious which end was which, but that was the story the car had to tell.

I'm white, the family was most definitely black, and I wondered if I should tell the usual story to take a pass. "Aw, nutz!" I said to myself, "It's history, and that's what I'm here for," and proceded to tell them about the car, it's history, and what it meant that it was now an oddity.

The reaction was fascinating. Their parents were all shushing me, saying, "We don't need to hear about that, it's all behind us." The youngest generation was all, "No way! Who'd put up with that BS!" And then the (great) grandparents piped up with, "You young'uns need to know this so it doesn't happen again. Let me tell you how it was...."

And at that point, I saw that my job was done, and that the dinner conversation that night would surely be instructive for the kids who had never seen a sign saying "colored".

As it turned out, it was all good practice for the day I told Spike Lee to sit in the back; but that's another story.... ;)

I Love TVRR. They are getting ready to start running trips from the TVRR to the Choo Choo running steam out on the NS main line. I am in works with them now to install web cams for rail fans to watch online.

Interesting story. I love hearing about the history of areas. I recently have taken interest in the Southern Railway and the history of the W&A railroad during the Civil War (The Great Locomotive Chase). But anyway, sorry to thread-jack.

[delsdad]

Interesting.

Interesting story. I love hearing about the history of areas. I recently have taken interest in the Southern Railway and the history of the W&A railroad during the Civil War (The Great Locomotive Chase). But anyway, sorry to thread-jack.

Thats nothing to apologize for here! It is more often than not standard-operating-procedure here at SGT!

[GaTechGal]

Interesting story. I love hearing about the history of areas. I recently have taken interest in the Southern Railway and the history of the W&A railroad during the Civil War (The Great Locomotive Chase). But anyway, sorry to thread-jack.

Then you need to visit http://www.southernmuseum.org/exhibits/the-general/ They have a big exhibit all about it including the "General" one of the locomotives from the chase. You can see the "Texas" at Atlanta's famous Cyclorama http://www.atlantacyclorama.org/attractions.php

[WEDFan]

You can see the "Texas" at Atlanta's famous Cyclorama http://www.atlantacyclorama.org/attractions.php

I went to the Cyclorama many years ago, and I'm not sure if it is still the same, but it certainly was an experience. Bear in mind that I'm a "northerner" born and bred. Did my time in history class and thought I knew how the Civil War went, at least in broad strokes. Well, we went through the show in the Cyclorama and I became a little less certain.

As I remember it, each major skirmish in the battle was given some narration time. When the Southern forces pushed back or held off the attacking force, the description was bright, upbeat and filled with praise for the bravery, skill and nobility of the soldiers. It seemed like the engagements where the Northern forces came out on top amounted to little more than "..and the attacking horde won another victory."

As we walked out, I felt the need to ask those who went with me exactly who won the battle. Wandering into the gift shot, we saw one of the most widely used graphics on the various items was a drawing of a Confederate soldier with his chin stuck out and a caption underneath reading "Lee surrendered. I didn't."

Culture shock, pure and simple.