It was early evening, a Friday. In a boomtown. Not what I expected. But the hotels and motels in Monroe, La. could easily be mistaken for the hotels and motels in Midland or Odessa when the rig count is hitting new records.
Crowded. Rooms scarce and priced accordingly.
But they aren’t drilling in Monroe. Monroe is jumpin’ because Meta is building, according to their website, “the largest Meta data center yet.” Right there.
The Path to West Monroe
So I drove another five miles to West Monroe. There I found a motel at a better price, with a Texas Roadhouse a short walk away. (Its walking distance was a good thing: The parking lot was packed.) The entry was crowded too, with groups waiting for tables and takeout.
But I was traveling alone. There were seats at the bar. Most others at the bar had the same idea — have a drink, get dinner. The U-shaped bar had big TV screens mounted high all around. Uruguay was playing Spain in the World Cup, in addition to five other matches that day. You could also watch a golf game.
I’ve always liked the Texas Roadhouse idea. Good, filling meals at prices people can afford. A casual environment and cold beer. I ordered a 6-ounce sirloin, medium rare, with mashed potatoes and a Caesar salad. Add their hot rolls with flavored whipped butter and there’s no danger of leaving hungry.
One of their special features is a 12-ounce margarita. I’ve never had one because, well, if they were 4 ounces of tequila, 4 ounces of triple sec and 4 ounces of lime juice, per the original recipe, I’d need a designated driver. My bet is theirs are strong on fruit juice.
Watching People Fall
While having dinner I noticed something strange. Most of the screens were filled with big sports events. But two screens were showing continuous videos of people falling down stairs, tumbling off porches or some hapless fail that made me wince.
Why were they showing this junk, I wondered? Sports events are fun to watch, individuals and teams trying their best in contests that reveal our amazing potential.
But people falling on their faces, hurting themselves? Not so much.
A Manager Visits
That’s when a Texas Roadhouse manager came by and asked if I was enjoying my meal.
“It’s fine,” I said, “just what I needed after a long day.”
Then I paused.
“But why do you show videos of people falling and hurting themselves? It isn’t funny. It’s cruel. It’s insensitive.”
He responded quickly. “They all sign waivers and permissions.”
“That’s not the point,” I answered. “That tells us lots of people are fools. It doesn’t tell us why cruel videos are included with sports viewing.”
He looked so surprised I felt a need to justify how I felt. “Falls aren’t funny,” I said, “They are deadly. A good friend of mine fell from a ladder two years ago. He seriously injured his back. He lived for a year, contorted in pain unless he took strong pain killers. Then he died.
“That’s not funny,” I said.
“It’s corporate policy to show them,” the manager answered.
“That’s a shame. So you can’t change it. I can’t, either. All I can do is find another steakhouse. I guess that’s what I’ll do.”
Aldous Huxley Predicts the Future
The manager seemed relieved that was all I was going to do. I left feeling down, wondering if this was exactly what Neil Postman had in mind when he wrote “Amusing Ourselves to Death,” published in 1985.
If you haven’t read it, it’s profoundly lucid and densely packed. He compares the dystopian vision in George Orwell’s “1984” of a dark tyranny of power and repression with Aldous Huxley’s equally dystopian vision in “Brave New World,” a tyranny of drugs and banal entertainment that has trivialized absolutely everything.
Postman concluded, in 1985, that Huxley’s vision is clearly coming true, largely due to television.
I wonder if Postman has ever been to a Texas Roadhouse…
Related columns:
Scott Burns, “The Square of 3 Billion,” 11/1/2009: https://scottburns.com/the-square-of-3-billion/
Sources and References:
Texas Roadhouse website: https://www.texasroadhouse.com
Texas Roadhouse fact sheet: https://www.texasroadhouse.com/sites/default/files/2026-03/t_000_2603_fact_sht_8-5x11_f.pdf
Texas Roadhouse media kit: https://www.texasroadhouse.com/sites/default/files/2026-05/t_000_2605_media_kit_f.pdf
Texas Roadhouse investor page: https://investor.texasroadhouse.com/overview/default.aspx
Meta website: “The largest Meta data center yet brings big impact to Louisiana,” https://datacenters.atmeta.com/richland-parish-data-center/
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Photo by Mohamed Olwy on Pexels.com
(c) Scott Burns, 2026
on the other screens you probably saw soccer players laying in agony If the other team just glanced them.
don’t know which is worse