The news has been full of cries for diversity and inclusiveness lately. I think about these things as I roam about the planet, and have come to realize there are things you never see but ought to if things were balanced. I have, for your convenience compiled a brief list of them below.

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I would like to see a nail salon staffed primarily by the Irish. Perhaps “Paddy’s Pedicures” would be a good name.

An old style Vietnamese pub with an assortment of traditional Vietnamese pub food and beer.

A really high-class German tea room. Perhaps with clotted cream cakes like you’d get in Bremerhaven.

Some kind of Spanish lefse bar.

A Mexican sushi establishment where you can only order in Spanish.

A Norwegian fried chicken place. Hopefully with some serious corn bread – Oslo style.

A Swedish reggae dance hall. Nothing says reggae to me like the land and music of ABBA. Here’s what I mean:

I think you get the point I’m trying to make: not everything must revolve around the axis of diversity. Somethings are just better the way we’ve found them in life already. (The biggest exception is the Hmong fried chicken at the Hmongtown center in Saint Paul – probably the top five in my fried chicken experience.)

Let’s celebrate what others do exceptionally well, and not try to make them as mediocre as possible. It’s not stereotyping if your culture provides you with some basis for a cuisine, literature, or music based on centuries of experience. It’s not racist, not genetic, it’s a practiced set of knowledge passed between generations. Not a thing wrong with recognizing that bit of beauty that God has gifted us with along the way.

And please, for the love of all that is foodie, nobody open an English steak house. I couldn’t bear the thought.

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