My Camera is a Destroyer

Lunchtime.

I eat lunch just about every day at a “buffet a kilo” place next door to our offices called Canto da Alice. These types of restaurants are very popular in Brazil. It’s basically a buffet featuring an expansive salad bar, several different meat, fish, and chicken dishes, some pastas, and an amazing desert selection. You fill your plate with whatever you want and are charged based on its weight. I went over there today excited to report on the entire buffet a kilo experience, but have returned dejected.

I foolishly started snapping pics of the buffet thinking that no one would suspect and ill will on my part, but I was soon confronted by an employee who asked me what I was doing. I explained my intentions and was left to continue on my way. Then someone else asked what I was doing and I explained my self and was let go. Soon after sitting down to eat, someone else came to our table to yell at us and demand that I erase the pictures.

Juliana, my co-worker and fellow luncher, immediately lost her appetite. I felt terrible, the negative energy filled up the place. So, I’m not posting any pictures of food (they didn’t come out that well anyway), and I’m sitting here soaked in bad vibes. I apologized several times for not asking permission before wielding the camera, and the manager (the yelling one) explained to me that they’ve had to deal with people who come in, pluck a hair out of their head, plant it in the food, snap a photo, and publish it in the paper. So, I can take pictures, but I’d need to be accompanied to ensure that they stay out of hot water. I’m not going to bother though because they’ve got pictures on their site!

Anyway, the whole thing turned into a mess and Juliana has refused to return to the restaurant due to the manager’s rudeness. I don’t mind so much. It was brash of me to start shooting without any kind of warning and it was strange—to say the least—that the manager would get as upset as he did, but the food’s good and it’s right next door! I’m not offended enough to swear it off, but still: negative energy. I blame the camera.