ELIMINATING THE MIDDLE (AM)MAN

I heard on the news yesterday that there’s an enclave of Iraqis who have left Iraq and moved to a location near Amman, Jordan. Seems their businesses were destroyed and their lives pretty well disrupted by the war and all. They needed someplace where they could feel kunky-cozy, as my nephew Charlie would say, a place that felt like home. So they've established stores and little cafes and have given these locations familiar-sounding names, like Al Baghdad Boulevard, or Al Husaybah Lane, or Al Ramadi Avenue.

Seems to me that that’s no different than a bunch of occupants of a burning apartment high-rise, standing on the sidewalk below with the spectators, watching as the firemen rush into the blazing building to save them.

But then I can understand the allure of a safe cafe to escape to. You’ve got that aromatic java that begs for an accompanying piece of cake. Hey, speaking of cake . . .

Cakes - It’s all about comments:

“This cake just stamps my Visa!” people say.
“I’ll only expatriate if they have cake like this where we’re going,” enthuse others.
“Now I know what all the fuss is about with those sidewalk cafes!” exclaimed a fan.


Cakes – It’s all about trivial facts:

One cake will feed about 12 Sheits or 15 Sunis.
At $20.00 a cake, some say it’s cheap. We prefer “bargain.”
Dimensions don’t vary – 6 inches around – 3 layers high
To order, contact me at btall50@aol.com


Cakes – It’s all about choices:

Chocolate with white frosting (cream cheese & butter)
Chocolate with chocolate frosting (fudge chocolate)
Yellow with white frosting (cream cheese & butter)
Yellow with chocolate frosting (fudge chocolate)