Latin Kings

Yesterday I attended the New York unveiling of Burger King's new menu, which is based on some recently developed broiler technology. A couple of things:

1) There's nothing more empowering than being picked up by a Town Car and chauffeured to the 34th Street Burger King.*
2) Except for maybe bypassing the velvet rope even as a random non-invitee is denied access. To Burger King. Hearing "I'm sorry, sir, this is a private event" will plague that guy for the rest of his life.
3) This new menu is a game-changer. The Steakhouse XT might be the best fast-food burger I've ever tasted. Thick, juicy, delicious. This new broiler technology is The Future.
4) They also served shockingly good s'mores made in the same broiler; they're not certain they'll offer them regularly, but hopefully they'll be part of The Future too.
*Even if the Town Car is late, and you have to wait in the rain

Oddly for a grab-and-go, the walls at 34th Street are decorated with smallish rock & roll prints, including the one above, tagged with "all I can do is be me, whoever that is", which I guessed was Dylan's dickishly enigmatic response to a perfectly standard question about his thoughts on Vietnam, or toothpaste, or whether or not fast food was fascist, or whatever.

Later last night, I went out with a friend of Spanish, Dominican, and English heritage, who tried to put Latin passion in context: her grandfather actually met her grandmother when he was five and she a newborn -- the story is, he was sent to deliver food to the proud parents, and stubbornly stood outside the door for five hours until they let him hold the baby. Both of their families fled Trujillo and landed in New York, where they re-met and fell instantly in love. They've apparently stayed that way, since the grandfather swears that if his wife dies first, he'll end his life right after. Meanwhile, the grandmother's sister became so ecstatically grateful over a flatscreen her nephew gave her to watch her telenovelas on, she swore she could die happily then and there.

"When your whole family's that dramatic -- your parents and their parents and their parents' sisters -- you can't help but be that way." As for her own far calmer nature, she attributes that to the English part. Some people are what they are, and know exactly who that is. And even if they're more of an enigma than they let on, they won't let you quote them on it. It's a private event.