In Which We Get Personal

From time to time, it is brought to my attention that the contents of my e-blog are not very personal. Rather than detailing the events of my life, I instead choose unleash upon the unwary internet a deluge of inane twaddle. So today, I've decided to get personal. I feel like I have reached a watershed moment in my life, a sign-post on the road to maturity and wisdom, a momentous point from which there is no return.

I have reached a point where I no longer pay for sandwiches.

This should not imply that I steal sandwiches, which I don't (besides, there isn't much of a market for stolen sandwiches so the resale value would be terrible), but rather that I try to avoid purchasing sandwiches in the first place.

The virtues of a sandwich - the reasons that they ever became popular in the first place - are:

1. Deliciousness
2. Ease of preparation

In fact, ease of preparation might be the most important factor behind the ubiquity of sandwiches. There are plenty of foods that taste better than sandwiches; however, the sandwich maintains its popularity because it is so easy to make. A sandwich is really only a small step above hot pockets in terms of ease of preparation. If you can follow two steps - 1) take two pieces of bread, 2) put stuff between them - then you can make your own delicious sandwich.

The last time I purchased a sandwich, I began thinking about what I was actually getting for my $7.50 + tax. What was it that made that sandwich so much more valuable than the sandwiches I make at home? Was it the toasted bread? No. I can toast bread. Was it the pickle wedge served on the side? No. I have pickles in the refrigerator. Was it the deli paper? Maybe. I don't have deli paper at home, although I don't think I would be willing to pay $7.50 + tax just to have a sheet of deli paper wrapped around my turkey club. Then it hit me: I was not buying a sandwich; I was buying laziness. I was paying $7.50 + tax because I didn't want to 1) take two pieces of bread, 2) put stuff between them. And that was it for me. I turned the corner.

I'm sure that I will buy a sandwich again at some point. There are some sandwiches out there that I cannot make conveniently: hamburgers, sandwiches with exotic ingredients which I am unlikely to purchase or have, etc. I might even buy a deli sandwich while on a road trip or something. But my days of buying sandwiches are dwindling.

Questions for Discussion:

1. What is your favorite kind of sandwich?
   
2. Have you ever had pastrami on rye?
3. Keeping that pastrami on rye sandwich in mind, would you like to change your answer to question #1?