@japan_nobunaga ๐๐๐๐that's how it's always been here in Chicago. A hot dog has only mustard, onion, relish, pickle, tomato, sport peppers and celery salt, anything else is a child's meal.
A hot dog stand in Chicago. I reached for the ketchup.
The man behind the counter said one word. "No."
I froze. I understood. I had nearly broken a sacred law.
His name was Sal. He held a mustard bottle in each hand and had the calm of a man who has turned away kings. He told me the dog already had mustard, relish, onion, tomato, a pickle, peppers, and celery salt. He told me it was "dragged through the garden." He told me ketchup would never touch it.
I bowed. I had been shown the code.
I asked Sal who decreed this law. He shrugged. "That's just how it is here." A law so old its author is forgotten. The strongest kind.
Then a man two stools down asked for ketchup for his child. Sal allowed it. "Eight and under," he said.
So the law holds one mercy. Below eight winters, a child is innocent. At eight, he becomes responsible for his own honor. I found this more beautiful than anything in my own country.
I have not put ketchup on anything since.
Not on eggs. Not on rice. A vow does not check what is on the plate.
I flew home. At a stand in my own city, a boy reached for the red bottle. I caught his wrist. "You are over eight," I said. He did not know what I meant. His mother was upset. I tried to explain the garden. I tried to explain Sal.
I am now asked not to return to that stand.
I have appointed myself guardian of a law from a city I visited once, for a single afternoon.
So tell me, America.
Who forbade the red sauce on the sausage, and in what year?
And if no one remembers, who am I now serving?
@philthatremains Ian can't have a logical thought with his mind let alone change the weather with it. Ian is a great dude but he over thinks almost every thought he has.
@kirawontmiss I have two girls that are toddler age, I always bring them into the men's room if I have to take them. If the stall is occupied we leave and wait in the hall until it's not.
@japan_nobunaga It's all an attempt to divide the country because the US is the biggest threat to global communism and politicians want complete and total power over us, and yes all politicians, left, right, center all of them.
@japan_nobunaga Media and influencers will use that small percentage to label a state red or blue solely for profit. In reality the overwhelming majority of Americans have the same common ground ideology and you'll see this if you travel and actually speak to real people.
@D0Stx@MarioNawfal Absolutely, my dog is so well behaved and even tempered that I never have to lock him up with guests but I still always keep a close eye on him. The worst he'd do is drool on someone or accidentally knock over a kid. If he gets too excited I make him go outside.
@JohnnyLCKai Yeah this is a hard one, both are incredible films from the golden age of film. I'd have to give it to Jaws solely because it had better acting all around. Rocky is still one of the greatest movies of all time but Im still going Jaws.