Deli Sandwich Rockin’ It, Keep On Stockin’ It

We often talk about the things we miss about living in the city (New York) and one of those things is the local deli/bodega. In particular, I miss the foreign deli guys jubilantly greeting me at lunchtime by the sandwich I ordered (on a daily basis) and not even caring what my name was. “Hey, Mr. Chicken Cutlet No Tomato… How’s it going?”. It’s kind of like how a “regular” can just nod at the bartender and get served his favorite drink…except it’s not in a bar..and it involves meat. It kind of made me think that when they look at people, they don’t see faces, but just layers of meat, cheese and breads – like in the old Looney Tunes cartoons where Sylvester would look at Tweety and see a glazed turkey leg. It’s strange, but I’m pretty sure that’s how it works.

There’s really no downfall to this kind of service, except that once you’ve ordered the same sandwich maybe 5 or 6 times, you’re kind of locked-in to that sandwich and switching sandwiches midstream will only cause chaos, confusion and sadly, disappointment. I’ll never forget the vicious glares I got the day I felt like trying something new and asked for a Turkey Reuben. Looking into the deli guy’s eyes, I felt like I could just read his mind… “Is this what you’re into now?…I don’t even know who you are anymore.” I couldn’t even bare to ask for an extra pickle that day.

On a shop note, lots of Shinzi Katoh items are now back-in-stock (but in limited supply), so please take advantage of the free shipping for orders over $150 promo this week that ends on Thursday night.