Short takes

Don’t eat and run at Bing’s

The call went out over the police channel one afternoon last week that a couple of diners at Bing’s Bodacious Burgers (4200 E. Madison St.) had exited the establishment without paying the tab (to be fair to them, they did plunk down a $1 bill before dashing). This kind of fraud, known as dine and ditch (aka running the check), may work in some restaurants, and it may even have worked a time or two at Bing’s. But not on this day.

Although the police had been called and a description of the scofflaws had been broadcast, it was quick action by Bing’s owner, Stan Moshier, that got the situation resolved. Stan is not only lean and lithe, but he’s also a big-time runner. Let's just say that our diners picked the wrong guy to try to stiff. So though the miscreants had a bit of a head start, Stan was still able to run them down and extract the requisite payment. A “never mind” call was placed to the police stating that, actually, the patrons had paid their bill. As one of Bing’s wait staff put it to me, “Stan wasn’t interested in making trouble; he was just interested in getting paid.”

No word on whether the couple also paid the tip.

SFD water-rescue team descends on the Park

At a little after 10:30 Sunday night sirens were heard blaring down Madison as multiple Seattle Fire vehicles raced to the Park for what was expected to be a major water-rescue operation. There had been a report of a distressed swimmer in Lake Washington off of the 1800 block of 43rd Avenue. E. I understand that the thirteen Fire Department units dispatched for this mission, including two ladder trucks, made quite a din in the neighborhood; but I slept through the whole thing.

Fortunately it turned out to be a false alarm. There were swimmers in the water, including some noisy ones, but none that was in any trouble. Weren’t thirteen aid units a bit of overkill, I asked? Not really, the SFD public liaison officer replied. When it comes to a possible water rescue, the department does not take half measures.

No argument here.

We're not alone

Last month we did a story on aggressive door-to-door magazine salespeople ("They're baaaack!!!") based on the experiences of my neighbors in past summers. I am happy to say that I have not received reports of any Madison Park incidents this summer. But such is not the case in other neighborhoods, unfortunately. Recent police reports show that overly pushy magazine hustlers are working parts of the the City, and KOMO-TV posted a Herb Weisbaum story on the subject today: "Door-to-door magazine sale scams out in full force."