Fireside Inn

Having alledgedly completed my hunting and successful photoshooting/shopping of Wessie, today it was time to roll my suitcases down Riverside st, from Motel 6 to the much nicer and only $35 more expensive Fireside Inn here in Westbrook. So what was I doing at the Motel 6? Well I just had some old business to take care of with some ole buddies of mine, DMoney, Smoothie, and Shifty, who are just up for a day or two visiting from New York and Connecticut hoping to meet a few local girls, who were working up the street. Motel 6 in Westbrook just seemed like the appropriate of place for that kind of thing.
Ok ok I am kidding! And if you know the reference (Gov LePage) that was funny.
But even at Motel 6 I was able to make a few cultural observations about Maine that the average Mainer probably would not. Take for example the fact that the staff there (see photo) dress in traditional religious garb from their home countries. Okay that's fine and it's nice that the state of Maine either allows or from what my Uber driver told me, has a law, regarding the right to wear clothing that is part of one's religion at work. And I understand certain Muslim and Arabic cultural requirements to wear a headdress when it comes to women, because women are very pretty and I guess showing their faces everywhere causes a nuisance. That's actually kind of true isn't it? LOL. Okay so this practice works fine. In Maine. Yes, in Maine... 98.5% white, 1% Native American and one half of 1 % other races combined.
But what Mainers probably never think about is what the heck would happen if there was a law like that in California? With the massive immigrant population there and tens of millions of people living there. It would literally be a traveling circus. Not to sound like Governor LePage or anything. There would be all these different robes headdresses, flocks, sandals, Tiztzits, kippahs, tichels, gartels, niquas and birquas!
And again, not to sound like Governor LePage, but it's a matter of time until these type of people start bringing massive knives and swords to work. You think I'm kidding? In the Pacific Northwest there's already been a student who's allowed to bring his kirpan to school for religious reasons. These are not just regular jack knives. They are straight edged swords and large knives that are definitely made for killing people. (see photo!) To put it bluntly. And it's not really an option, there has been a commandment that these be worn by all Sikhs...or Sheiks... or whatever you call them.

The Kirpan (Punjabi: ਕਿਰਪਾਨ, kirpān) is a religious sword worn in a strap that enables a it to be suspended near one’s waist or tucked inside one’s belt. It must be worn by all initiated Sikhs (Khalsa), after a mandatory religious commandment given by Guru Gobind Singh Ji (the tenth Sikh Guru) in 1699 CE. The Kirpan is part of the Five Ks uniform that all initiated Sikhs must adhere to. “Kirpan” literal means “weapon of defence” (“Kirpa” means “mercy” and “Aan” means “honour”) and encapsulates an initiated Sikh’s solemn obligation of courage and self-defence. A Sikh who wears a kirpan is supposedly not wearing it because it is a weapon; he or she is wearing it because it is part of their officially prescribed religious uniform.

The Khalsa is expected to live by the high moral standards of the Sikh Gurus at all times as stipulated in Guru Granth Sahib and Rehat Maryada (Sikh Code of Conduct) which includes such things as abstaining from smoking, drinking and other intoxicants, eating killed animals, performing daily prayers and always maintaining the five distinctive physical symbols of Sikhi (Kakars) on them. The most noticeable of these symbols being uncut hair (Kesh).

Okay so just please notice the fact that men AND women are supposed to be wearing these knives. I would be hesitant to bet that the housekeeping staff at the Motel 6 in Westbrook does not have one of these knives somewhere in and around their person. So don't get them upset!

Anyway here at the Fireside Inn, life is a lot less exotic and I'm a lot happier. I was given two whoopie pies (photo) upon check-in, my housekeeper is named Caitlin, and the front desk woman was knitting a blanket for her little baby at work. Now there's something I've never seen on the west coast... Any form of knitting by front desk staff. I'll be much more relaxed over here.Read more