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Comment by hirundo | Hacker News Reader

> The pictures we’ve included in this article confirm Edsel's perennial smile in the presence of ladies -- we don't condone his behavior.

Yet the author feels no need to not condone the rest of Edsel's bad behavior. It's not OK to fondle you but fine to spill soup on your lap? To me it's all disgusting. I'd likely clear out permanently before my butt hit a chair. It's a little gross that the article treats him as a folk hero.

Not that I have a problem with people who tolerated or even liked it. Some people like being abused and God bless them. If they came back after the first time it's no longer really abuse because they expected it and had choices. Same if they knew what to expect by reputation.

But was it a popular place despite his antics or because of them? Maybe for the same reason that people liked being insulted by Don Rickles, which I can't fathom either.

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The phenomenon going on here reminds me a little of what happens in BDSM communities. While I personally don't understand the appeal of that kind of sexual escapade, I also understand the logic of it -

In normal, daily life, people must be polite and respectful to each other. For some people (there's a strong trend for this in CEOs/powerful executives who are in a position of power), this creates a strange imbalance and a need to, for once in their life, be the ones being dominated. So these people may walk in the door of a room of a dominatrix, and once they sign a contract, they're beaten, abused... but this abuse is exactly what they signed up for and, perversely, they enjoy it.

I imagine the doorway of this restaurant is a little like that contract - a respite from the obligatory courtesies of daily life.

> was it a popular place despite his antics or because of them?

Because of them.

The groping obviously isn’t okay. But just because he’s being insulting doesn’t mean everyone must feel insulted. Think of it as dinner theatre.

The now long gone owner of the Aub Zam Zam on Haight St was a beloved notoriously cranking bastard. Friends of mine go to a hole in the wall Sushi place that is also run by a notoriously cranky guy. Show up with four people and he'll kick you out.

It's old school San Francisco.

Bruno’s reputation was making the best martini’s in San Francisco. If you minded your P and Q’s you would get served and not face any abuse. But if there was any hint of jerk in you, Bruno would 86 you the hell out of Aub Zam Zam.

which restaurant?

If you take such things as being serious and true statements, you're obviously not getting the joke (because there was no joke, only a serious and true statement). There's a certain level of detachment required to appreciate an insult as an art form, even moreso when you're the one being insulted. Some people can do it, and some understandably don't necessarily want to be that detached!

Thing about Edsel and Sam Wo's. If you went there you signed up for the low grade abuse and bad service.

The article makes it very clear that the place was an attraction because of his antics. The only people involved I feel bad for were unsuspecting dates taken there for the entertainment that their reaction would give.

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