|
|
|
|
|
|
| popcorn wagons. | 11.21.2003 | |
|||
|
|||||
 every morning on my way to work, i pass this man wearing a milwaukee brewers cap, who sells popcorn on the sidewalk out of one of those old-fashioned wagons. and every morning, three questions pop into my head, powder-buttered and warm. the first two questions both involve that damn brewers hat. actually, come to think of it, they’re somewhat redundant... and i’m not sure why my head separates them into two separate questions, since they could be easily combined into one compound question. but, whatever. the cap doesn’t bear the new logo... or the old logo, it’s that chubby blue glove logo that they sported during the jimmy carter administration. considering the strength of the brewers’ fanbase, he must have been previously employed by the brewers. there are a lot of things that exist solely for nostalgic purposes: monuments, brick roads, the penny, the kennedy family, and pittsburgh. but, popcorn carts? what exactly are they reminiscent of? the good ole days when there were popcorn carts? is that really necessary? i’ll save you the contemplation. no. it’s not. there aren’t new popcorn carts... so we surely don’t need to be reminded of how they used to be. for measure, the brewers’ hat is more reminiscent than twenty popcorn carts. and no one cares about the brewers now, let alone thirty years ago. and not to beat this into the ground, but when were these times that we’re so fiercely forced to look back fondly on? [alliterative, eh?] i don’t know when the heyday of popcorn wagons was... but the only truly all-around great time in american history was the 1920s... and all that thoughtless fun and mayhem didn’t lead to any severe consequences, did it? so who patronizes these popcorn carts? teenagers? not if that yellow powder is just butter, as advertised. the blue-collared? hell, no! old people? must be. why? one: they might actually be able to remember the daily frat party that was life in the 1920s. two: because we brainwash them into thinking that something such as a popcorn wagon is some sort of callback to when they were younger and things were better. i can just imagine the following conversation: “edna, look, there’s a popcorn cart!” “ooh, remember that other time we got popcorn from one of those? 19...1982. wasn’t that the year you had that appendectomy?” “naw... not-- wait... 1982? didn’t the brewers go to the world series that year? yeah. yeah! that was the year i got that appendectomy. let’s get some popcorn!” yesterday, i decided i would see what all the fuss was about, so on my lunch hour i walked over towards the old man and his popcorn wagon. just then, an ambulance screamed around the corner. god, ambulances are so fucking obnoxious. all those sirens and lights... they’re an epileptic seizure on wheels. anyway, when i approached the cart, i nodded to the man. “what’ll it be fer ya, young man.” “uh, one... popcorn.” what am i supposed to say? clearly popcorn is the only thing he is selling, and it isn’t like he has an inventory of different size containers somewhere. “how about the weather?” “how about that popcorn.” call me an ass, but i have to get back to work. i don’t have all day to sit here and chit-chat about the unchanging los angeles weather, his crappy popcorn, or the “legacy” of bambi’s bombers. as he shoveled out the popcorn, he asked, “have you seen travis?” with a quizzical look, i took the box of popcorn. “’nother young man... used to come by... travis was his name.” then, chuckling, “loved his popcorn.” i shrugged. another “young man,” and i didn’t know him?! old people are so weird. obviously, i was right in my assumption: the only young people that come to this stand are part of some sort of underground youth society of popcorn lovers. walking away, i popped a few kernels into my mouth. eh. so-so. apparently, the allure of these old-fashioned popcorn wagons will remain a mystery to me. edna: “that robin yount, what a handome ballplayer he was!” her husband guffawed, “you only loved me for my appendix.” |
|||||
|
|||||
| 2:12 am | sui generis said this. | |
|||
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||