Today I went to the farmer's market alone while J stayed at home to do some cleaning (yay!). I actually really hate going to the market alone. Some of it is just because I hate going alone, but usually I'm also hungry which just makes me irritable. To avoid this, I polished off the liverwurst before heading out. I also hate going to the market because then I have to deal with the cart which means I have to navigate through dumbfounded men, slow-moving shoppings, and rambunctious children. It also means that I have to order at the deli.
You see, ordering at the deli is J's job. It actually really sucks but, in general, it just sucks for everyone. Takes a long time to place an order, fill an order, etc. and usually the line is pretty long. Since fish and meat ordering generally sucks for J but not for me, I take care of all of that. Maybe the deli folk at the farmer's market just hate doling out the sliced meats. I guess I wouldn't be too excited about it myself. Today however, it was pretty painless.
You may be wondering where I'm going with this story. It's all just backdrop. While I was waiting to get my pancetta and prosciutto for my ragu, I waited in line for two guys in front of me to get their own prosciutto. I observed to my right that there was a middle-aged guy with a hovering wife and a small child, probably around ... four. I have to admit I really have no idea. The child could have been two, could have been six.
When the deli lady weighed the man's cold cuts out, I noticed that she had thick slices of mortadella, which, as usual, made me think "mmmm, mortadella" and considered ordering some. I overheard the man say, "I actually ordered bologna. What is that?" In the end, he decided to go with the flow and just get the mortadella. After all, he probably waited a good amount of time to even get served.
But it made me think. I envisioned mortadella sammiches for the kids. Surprise when it's not bologna! I mean, it's better than bologna, but is it for the taste that people buy bologna? I wonder what effect that one change may have on their house. Maybe they will become mortadella converts!
What would happen if a small kid brought a mortadella sammich to school? Would he get teased? Do children even bring bologna sammiches to school? Or do children bring a wider assortment of foods to school these days and mortadella would just be the norm?
Mmmmm, mortadella. I should have gotten some.
2 comments:
uh, what's mortadella. I ussually buy bologna b/c it's in the ready to go pack. Yes, I'm gross and cheap! Actually, I'm not a big fan of deli meats due to growing up with a dad who liked to 'push' the expiration dates. Yuck!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortadella !
It's the real bologna!
Not that we ate a lot of bologna, but my sister used to order kosher salami which I thought was a lot like bologna. That's what I ate when I was eating bologna-like deli meat.
Funny how your childhood experiences shape you like that.
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