Today I'm thankful for: that time that Sicilian restaurant in Rome opened early for us

Today (and every day) I'm thankful for that time that Sicilian restaurant in Rome opened early for us.

It was our last night in Rome (and indeed our last night in Italy).  We had picked out this Sicilian restaurant we wanted to go to.  A bit after seven in the evening, we walked up. The door was open, so we walked in and asked whether they had a table available for dinner.  "Of course!" they said.  "When?"  "Tonight", we said.  "...You mean now?  Uh...sure, why not?"  They ushered us to a table, and we had a great meal.

About an hour and a half later, all the other diners started coming in.  It was only then that we realized the restaurant didn't open until 8:30pm, but they had opened, just for us.

I guess we weren't doing as the Romans do, but they welcomed us nonetheless, and I am thankful.

Word of the day: manumit

The word of the day is manumit:

< classical Latin manūmittere < manū , ablative singular of manus the power of a father or master (lit. ‘hand’: compare manus n.¹ 2) + mittere to release, send (see mission n.); manū ēmittere is recorded from earlier texts. Compare Law French manumettre to set free (1338 in Middle French), Middle French manumitter (1354), manumiter (15th cent.); also Italian manomettere (end of 13th cent.), Spanish manumitir (early 18th cent. or earlier).

Now chiefly hist.

To release (a person) from slavery, bondage, or servitude; to set free. Also intr.: to obtain one's release from slavery, etc. (OED)

"The Romans, he writes, had no concept of progress: 'The implication is that the order of the universe is static, that social perspectives do not change; they must be the way they are.  The 'is' and 'ought to be' of the world are the same.'  Thus, a slave might dream of manumission, but hardly of abolition."

 - Adam Kirsch, "The empire strikes back: Rome and us", 9 January 2012 The New Yorker, quoting Robert Knapp's Invisible Romans