Happy Fourth of July!
I spent the day fishing the Kankakee River at Custer Park along Route 113 and had only two lackluster tugs by a denizen of the deep, or cresting waters.
My boon chum and I gave up the lures and headed back to Cook County before the next phalanx of storm clouds pelted us with hail and silver dollar sized droplets.
We had a great time cast-drifting for small mouth and snagging driftwood. The piscean Illini of the mighty Kankakee remain unhooked and free!
We stopped at the Rocketship in Wilmington for a celebratory pot roast sandwich. I had a GreenRiver and my pal a cold Dad's Old Fashioned Root Beer,
Our table talk centered on foods, dining, America's Youth, our shrinking cultural contexts due to my allusion to young African Lad with whom I labor at J & J Snacks ( formerly Labriola Bakery) in Alsip, Illinois. I explained.
I work on the packaging and shipping line for the Parm Crisp Division of this worthy firm. I had worked making Parm Crisps - a gluten free lure for white people with more money than taste. These 'sophisticated' snacks come in three ounce packages and sell for a husky $ 4.95 at most marts.
Here is the recipe:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Pour a heaping tablespoon of Parmesan onto a silicone or parchment lined baking sheet and lightly pat down. A silicone baking sheet is highly recommended. ...
- Bake for 3 to 5 minutes or until golden and crisp. Cool.
The product reminds me of particle-board - De Gustibus Non Est Disputandem.
Tony Marxist Oak Parkers flock to Whole Foods and other outlets and lay down a fin per package - that's $5 for twelve crisps weighing in at 3 ounces.
Go figure.
A month ago, I requested transfer to shipping and packaging where I am delighted to work with African American working women and gents and a legion of Mexican immigrant Americans. These people humble me. They work long hours for an average of $11 per hour and never fall out and always over compensate for inferior equipment and understaffed crews with hard labor, grit and great good humor.
I package between 600-900 boxes ( 7-9 pallets) per shift, Our labeling machine has a faulty closing arm and now have an 18 year old Temp named T working with me.
He is a baby face with a very sweet nature - guileless and respectful of women and his aged white co-worker and shipping mentor.
He tasted our product and concurred with my judgment that you will never go broke underestimating rich white people. " Cracker's nasty!" he exclaimed.
This cracker cab be nasty, but I am generally sweet natured.
Our bonding took a turn toward tastes in food. I told him that any great dinner out should include and appetizer of shrimp cocktail. T had never heard of this hors d'oeuvre.
I began, " This seafood specialty originated in Great Britain and consists of cooked chilled prawns ( large shrimp) arranged and dolloped with a sauce consisting of catsup, mayonnaise and Tabasco - in Old Blighty and Ketchup and horseradish here in the Land of the Free and Home of the Brave - served in a chilled martini glass on both sides of the pond.:
" Pond, Old School?"
'The Pond refers to the Atlantic Ocean, Young Folks."
These days young Americans have a very diminished capacity for confronting cultural contexts. T had never heard of Sarah Vaughan, Joe Williams, or Miles Davis, let alone understood my reference to a co-worker taking a Steve Brody off of the railroad bridge crossing the Cal Sag.
America should be big enough to school our young 'uns in matters of taste.
Our elites eat gluten free 'nasty crackers' that cost $ 5 a dozen. Eighteen year old African American Lads who work 40 hours a week for $11 should be directed to enjoy a shrimp cocktail, for the love God, His Holy Mother and All the Saints.
Our Founding Fathers would concur. I think.
