Fran O'Brien's vs. The Hilton

Now you knew I wasn't gonna let this go by and not mention anything. Fran O'Brien's Stadium Steak House on 16th Street has been the place to be for wounded service members returning from the war(s). The restaurant bends over backwards to bring in the wounded Americans, by volunteers van, carrying them down the stairs, helping them in their wheelchairs. The restaurant owners, Marty O'Brien and Hal Koster, know the returning men and women by name and call them even when they're not at the bar. The restaurant has become a quiet legend among the returning wounded.

But the Hilton, the hotel whose basement the restaurant is in, decided not to renew the lease. There isn't much time left, the lease set to expire on May 1, but there are a bunch of people fighting like hell to stop it.

I can understand the Hilton and its position of, "This is business." Actually, it is just business. They're not in the business of hospitality; they're in the business of making money. They'll say this isn't about money either, but that's why they're in business. Regardless, I do understand, but every now and then, in a world in which we all die and it's over one day, you have to do something right.

I wouldn't be surprised if The Hilton had a hotel, or plans for one, in Baghdad, Iraq. They probably just can't wait until the Americans (and their allies) secure the area so a hotel could be built to generate millions of dollars off the backs of wounded and killed service members. And the one thing the Hilton can do right now to show their support of those who serve in their business without planning on it is allow them the atmosphere of Fran O'Brien's. Hey, the war will be over in a few more years, give or take a decade. If you don't like it, you know what to do.