In the Club?
Posted on | January 18, 2010 | No Comments
Okay, so the ‘next time’ promised in the last post didn’t materialize as quickly as it could have. Nowhere near as quickly, in fact. Hey I’ve got a good set of excuses, but I’m not going to use them; just pick up where I left off. Well, sort of. The set of interests I’m going to write about from here on out are pretty much the same — art, business, the body, design, perception and environmentalism — but I’ve changed since August, so my approach will as well. So posts might not fit into categories; they might simply be rants or observations or random thoughts. Like this…
It’s been almost a decade since I had a donair. Donairs in Halifax aren’t like shawarma or shish taouk, or wraps you find in any other cities, for that matter. Depending on your point of view, they’re either delicious or disgusting. I used to eat them a lot, but like all other foods best consumed between 2am and dawn, it’s been a while.
Today I decided to see how it tasted after so long, so I went to King of Donair (the name says it all) and ordered one. And unwrapped the tin foil. And bit into spicy sliced meat of questionable origin doused in sweet creamy sauce rolled in a pita. And… in short, this is not food that should be consumed any time of day other than between 2am and dawn, not at lunch.
When I looked up from the experience of this questionable meal, I saw a gull standing on the street outside staring at me. More like glaring. It cocked its head quizzically at the glass window, then hopped around looking for a way through the pane. This may be anthropomorphization, but the gull looked angry, and jealous, and slightly desperate. I had something it wanted; only after one bite, I no longer wanted that thing.
As the gull paced back and forth it struck me that we’ve all had experiences like that gull. No matter how many clubs you’re in or how privileged you are, I doubt there’s a person alive who hasn’t had at least a moment of thinking, “If only I had that…” or “If only they’d let me into that club…” Of course when we feel that way, we don’t imagine for a second that there may be someone who has what we want but doesn’t particularly want it, or at least thinks that it may not be so great. To quote a great scientist who never finished grade school, it’s all relative.
When I had eaten as much as my stomach would allow, mostly under the glare of my hungry bird friend, I took the rest (perhaps 2/3 of the whole thing) and left it w/o wrapper on the ground next to a nearby trash bin. Out of the way of human foot traffic, so that the gull — or a crow, or pigeons — could enjoy the meal.
I hope it treats their stomachs better than it’s treating mine!
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