This Washington Times article begs the question:
Is eating at Long John Silver’s a penance?
The last line is a bit depressing:
“As a rule, generally, we have a really good Friday,” said Deborah Kearney, spokeswoman for Legal Sea Foods, which has six restaurants in the Washington area. “During Lent, it’s even stronger. Good Friday, it’s probably triple [the business] of a very busy Friday.”
Remember the old jingle “what would you do for a klondike bar”? The byzantine catholic fast schedule for Great Lent for us means that, at this point, I’d do a great many things for a fish fillet. I haven’t had meat since the Monday before Ash Wednesday (eastern catholics start 2 days before western ones). The simple lack of a particular food can be an effective penance if you extend the lack beyond what a random change of menu might provide by accident.