Today, I came across a story from the Australia Broadcast Corporation, by way of the New York Post, about emus and a the Yarkara Hotel bar in Queensland, Australia. Since your humble New Leaf Journal hosts The Emu Café, I thought that the story was too amenable to publication here to let pass without mention.
At issue in the story was the presence of emus at the Yarkara Hotel, described by ABC as being “in remote south-west Queensland” in Australia. The Post reported that the emus, which had been raised near the hotel, are something of a tourist attraction. Unfortunately for the hotel, hungry adult emus had no reservations about entering the hotel bar without making reservations. There, they would steal food, drinks, and car keys from non-feathered biped patrons. That was not the only problem. The owner establishment, Chris Gimblett, understatedly told ABC that “[t]heir toileting [inside] is not particularly pleasant.”
(Before continuing, I must give credit to Mr. Gimblett for his use of “toileting.” It is sometimes difficult to describe unpleasant things in a classy manner. Mr. Gimblett succeeded.)
The conduct of the Queensland emus at the Yarkara Hotel bar was egregious enough to prompt Mr. Gimbett to bar their entry into his establishment. While the ropes at the entrance have apparently kept the thumb-less birds on the outside looking in, they continue to look in longingly, hoping that a sympathetic patron will let them in.
Well-Behaved Emus and Humans Welcome to Visit The Emu Café
Here at The New Leaf Journal, The Emu serves as proprietor of The Emu Café – an establishment dedicated to fine coffee, tea, and lively discourse about aesthetics and the life lived well. In light of the Yarkara Hotel’s banning unruly emus, The Emu would like to make clear that all visitors, feathered and un-feathered, are welcome to visit The Emu Café corner of The New Leaf Journal.
Of course, all visitors to The Emu Café must conduct themselves in an upstanding manner. Behavior of the kind exhibited by the emus at the Yarkara Hotel will not be tolerated. Victor V. Gurbo inadvertently launched the emu café when, in a state of delirium, he exclaimed “I don’t like your emu and I don’t have to eat it; but you can keep the sofa.” While emus are welcome at The Emu Café, we must remind them that if we don’t like the behavior of a particular emu, we don’t have to feed it. Depending on damages caused, however, the disorderly emu may be strongly encouraged to keep the sofa.