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Friday, May 19, 2017

Food for All

I see them every day. The construction workers,  HVAC guys, welders, plumbers, stonemasons, city inspectors, water truck guys, lawn care crews, Google fiber teams, trash truck drivers, Fedex and the UPS guys, of course postmen, firemen and police. The delivery drivers who bring the produce and the linen and chips to the restaurant. Rich people, in fancy cars and on expensive motorcycles. Hipsters on bikes, and skateboards. There are poor people who dig out the last two dollars out of their jeans and rich couples from Lakeway drinking expensive red wine out of foam cups. Families come too, with two, four, six, even ten kids in tow. College students, high school kids, a guy with no shoes or shirt, a guy in a tux, tourists from China and San Francisco and LA and New York. Relatives, moms, dads, sister and brothers--some dragged in on their first night in town. Folks come with their luggage, straight from the airport. Some people come every week. Some come every month.

It might be hip to wait in line, but it ain't necessarily fun. In the summertime, it can get very hot, and on cold rainy 'winter' days in the ATX, days it's downright miserable. But the people come. And, they wait. It's not a long line, but there's no inherent chic to waiting--it seems cool at first but then it's hot, dusty, the music is loud, you are standing in a parking lot and and oh yeah, you are hungry. The guy at the window seems to be taking forever. But the smell! Oh that smell. You have to tell yourself: It's worth the wait. It's worth the wait. Oh god what is taking that guy so long? Is he ordering for a baseball team?

Food is more than just smoked meat. It is love made manifest in good food, served in good restaurants.