I’m the first one to admit that some terms are so image-laden in themselves that they do not need a story. I was unfamiliar with the “dine and dash” philosophy of dining: Excuse me, I’ll be right back; gonna grab a smoke.

Gone.

The smoke is from the car leaving the parking lot. I hear more stories about this illegal dining routine as people move into new ways of cheating the system. Those who want to eat out, need to pay for the experience. Who gets stiffed? The waiter, the restaurant, and in the end, the loyal customers who want everything to be perfect. Restaurants, contrary to what you believe, do not operate with high profit margins. It’s a costly proposition to operate a restaurant, to provide for staff and customer, to buy equipment and food and create an experience that people will welcome.

Every week (day) you hear about another restaurant that decided to close up shop or change its format. This week the big name was Oceanaire, the seafood company from Minneapolis filed for bankruptcy protection and closed 4 of its 16 locations. Rumors abound who’s next. It’s tough out there.

If the numbers of those who casually walk out the door increase and disappear into a puff of smoke, we will be in an even sorrier state of dining. I am encourgaged by the number of small neighborhood restaurants that have cameras in place to catch the scofflaws and who are willing to report the details to the loyal faithful, their e-mail list of diners.

You always wanted the Coyote to Catch the RoadRunner!

If you’re gonna run: Take out the china, make grilled cheese, and stay home. Don’t ruin it for the rest of us. We want neigbhborhood restaurants to survive.

The good ones, at least!