quote:
"I sit on a man's back, choking him, and making him carry me, and yet assure myself and others that I am very sorry for him and wish to ease his lot by any means possible, except getting off his back." - Leo Tolstoy

this weekend, i left the chi for manitowac, wisconsin. one of the first things we did in manitowac, of course, was to get very greasy burgers and cheese curds (deep fried breaded cheese) at a local diner, once car-hop, called "Late's." directions to Late's included passing a certain number of churches, turning after the train tracks, right before the giant cow statue. yes, this was Wisconsin. And when inside Late's one could smell a combination of grease and long-standing customer satisfaction and see young female waitresses with oil-slicked hair pulled into tight ponytails while the entire town it seemed, beer-bellied up to the counter, with ruminations on little league games and motorcycle stories, pulling children onto barstools and finding ways to shovel in inordinate amounts of food, stretching arms over distances created by fat bellies to reach the counter-top. and on top of all the grease, grins shone from the dilapidated walls of this landmark, never changed, never needing change, in spite of a changing world.

Late's is part of the story behind why Americans are fat and will continue to be, and it makes me kind of proud. (I'm going to go eat some vegetables.)