I think it would be safe to say the new Hooters of Slidell restaurant on Gause Boulevard has gotten a good bit of attention already.
I’ve had to cover several events there, including an interview with co-owners Joel Wood and Greg Gibson, who I have gotten to be friends with, something that happened pretty easily since they are two of the most down-to-earth guys you could meet.
Last week Hooters held a special event for an official Chamber ribbon cutting and presentation of a $2,000 check to the Community Christian Concern of Slidell. It was from money they raised in their VIP night before the restaurant officially opened.
Greg and Joel told me that one of the biggest issues they deal with when coming to a new city—and this is their 10th Hooters in Louisiana—is making folks understand that Hooters is not exactly the kind of place many people assume it is. They are big on supporting the community with fundraisers, donations to charity and more. The Hooters girls are actually mini-celebrities and they were already getting requests for public appearances before they even opened.
But we all understand what they meant by overcoming the perception of “Hooters,” which many people think is all about girls running around the place flirting with every guy that walks in the door—something that is hardly the case.
I got a little more confirmation of how untrue that is when I got to talk with Joel’s wife last week at the check presentation. Her name is Angela and they were married in 2011.
The story starts with Angela being a former Hooters girl when she was in her 20s, working at the Metairie restaurant that Joel and Greg owned. She and Joel struck up a romance, dated for a while, but then went their separate ways since she wanted to be a doctor.
After Angela earned her degree and spent time finishing her residency in West Virginia, she began to practice, but came to New Orleans in 2009 for a Hooters girl reunion. She ran into Joel, all after both had been married and divorced once, and the romance was reignited. By 2011, Joel and Angela were married and now they have a 15-month-old son, Joey.
Joel is in his late 50s and Angela is 42, but this is the first child for either one of them, so it was not much of a surprise to hear that Angela has put her internal medicine career on hold to be a stay-at-home mom. Even though she worked so hard to become a doctor and said she loved practicing, I was not surprised to hear her say “I love it,” when I asked how she likes being home with little Joey.
But here’s the rest of the story.
I asked her how it was being the wife of the Hooters restaurant owner, and how it was being a Hooters girl. She told me there is a complete misconception about the girls and the vast majority of them are like the rest of us–big on their family and just trying to make a living–but being fortunate enough to have the looks to be hired as Hooters girls.
Angela said the thought of her husband showing up at Hooters restaurants almost every day with all the beautiful women is something she doesn’t think twice about.
“Maybe 20 years ago I would have worried about it, but not now,” she said. “He is a great husband and father and these are just a bunch of regular girls who are very down to earth. It’s not the way people think it is.”
Interesting story Angela. Thanks and good luck to all of you with the restaurant.
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My wife made an interesting suggestion to me about something we should start having in the newspaper. It would be a weekly driving tip. Seriously, the idea of reminding people about driving, and things they should or shouldn’t do, is a great idea and I probably will institute it one day.
Of course, the idea had a lot more to do with times we were in the car and saw things “the other guy” did.
She really did think it was a good idea to remind people about the rules of the road, and I positively agree because we all drive so frequently that we see people doing things that don’t just test our patience, but are frequently against the law in a way that many people don’t realize.
Here are a few things that are against the law, and I’ll bet you didn’t know:
–Driving on the shoulder of the road to the right of a vehicle when someone is stopped in front of you, waiting to turn left.
–Flashing your lights against oncoming traffic to warn them about a police radar up ahead.
–Waving people to go in front of you when they really have the right of way at an intersection.
Those are just a few things to consider, and I’ll bet most people are especially shocked to find out that when you flash your lights against oncoming traffic, all to warn them that you just passed a police radar set up behind you, it can actually get you a ticket.
My biggest pet peeve is people who stop in the middle of the road to let you go in front of them, or make a turn against oncoming traffic, even though you don’t have the right of way. I am seeing that as a growing trend and I actually think it creates a tremendous traffic hazard.
Too many people are actually stopping in the middle of traffic that should be moving, trying to be the “nice guy” and letting somebody make a turn, and it actually creates a much bigger hazard.
Rules of the road were written so we all know who has the right of way, and we all follow the same rules. Some folks trying to do something nice are actually creating a bigger hazard and I, for one, would like to see us all follow the rules as they are written.
Kevin Chiri can be reached by e-mail at kevinchiri@gmail.com.