Posted: Friday, July 18, 2008 12:00 am
In the grand scheme of things, petty larceny at a little eatery may be nothing to get too worked up over.
On the other hand, it can serve as a sad reminder that things like trust and friendliness are not always met with the kind of reciprocation they deserve.
For a decade and a half, Michael Campbell has operated the cozy Pepper Tree Sausage House in east Albany. It's an old-fashioned kind of place, basically a one-man operation where customers can order meals off the menu or buy packages of steak, sausage, bacon and the like to cook at home.
Whether dining in or taking out, part of the Pepper Tree's appeal is the interaction with Campbell, who mixes irascibility with charm and customer service as skillfully as he blends spices into his three dozen varieties of sausage.
And for years a humorous sign inside the place told patrons of the kind of proprietor they could expect to deal with. It's shown in the photo above.
Alas, the sign was stolen last week. Campbell explains that two fellows came in for lunch, loved the sign and, when he went into the back for a minute, made off with it - thereby repaying Campbell's assumption of their honesty with disrespect for his property.
This is crime of the low-grade variety, to be sure, and a letter on this page takes a light-hearted look at it. But such an act is still a blow to our prevailing decency, especially when it happens to one of the town's true good guys. (Steve Lundeberg)