OH, RATS—NOSTALGIA FOR GREENWICH VILLAGE. News stories about a video of rats cavorting in a Greenwich Village fast food restaurant have achieved popularity on the internet. Thanks to the internet, I was able to determine that the restaurant is at 331 Sixth Avenue and is just a couple doors from a local landmark, the Waverly Theater. In the late sixties I lived on Downing Street, just a five minute walk from the restaurant. One night my cousin Walt went to deal with a mouse that was making noise in the kitchen while I either dozed or pretended to doze. It turned out that it was either a rat or a mouse as big as a football. We found the hole and stuffed it with a shoe and then, on the advice of friends who had lived in New Orleans, stuffed the hole with steel wool. Apparently rats get tired of trying to chew through the steel wool.
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I saw this on John C. Dvorak’s blog the other day and showed the video to Annalisa. She thought the rats were cute.
One of my favorite parts of “Life In The Fast Lane” by F1 mechanic (and personal hero) Steve Matchett is when he goes to a restaurant in Japan and sees rats scurrying all over the floor and around the feet of unconcerned waitresses. The proprietor spots the guys looking and says “Shh. Micky Mouse, secret!”
Steve goes on to say that while the Benetton mechanics never dined there again, business didn’t seem to be hurt by the infestation.