dn ǝpıs ʇɥbıɹ*
So, I’ve been wondering about this for a few years. My family is sick of hearing about it. At the risk of looking crazier than I already do, I’m going to go ahead and see if any of you have become aware of this phenomenon.
Have you noticed that people—restaurants, that is—are making sandwiches upside down now?
Not every place, I’m sure, but enough so that I can call it a phenomenon. I’m talking mainly about fast food franchises, but I’ve noticed it in some more upscale places.
Once upon a time, in my giddy youth, if you ordered a burger it came in the following order:
Bottom half of the bun
Burger
Lettuce
Tomato
Pickle
Other garnishes
Top half of the bun with whatever condiment was requested or usual (Special Sauce, anyone?)
And when I first started buying roast beef subs at Subway, it was kind of the same thing. The roll was split down the middle. The roast beef went on the side closest to the bottom of the roll, and all the extras went on the side closest to the top of the roll.
When you ate your sandwich, the taste buds at the top of your mouth dealt with all the flavors of all the extras, while the bottom of your mouth savored the meat of the matter.
But now, it’s all backwards. And it happened quite suddenly. One day, all my sandwiches were right side up, and the next they were being assembled upside down.
I don’t understand it.
What could possibly be the reason for this?
Is there something intrinsically less expensive in building a burger backwards? Surely a lettuce leaf costs the same whether it is on the top or the bottom of the sandwich? Is it more efficient to layer in this—let’s be honest—wrong order? But, really, how much faster can it be to slap a tomato on one side than the other?
I think it’s the thin edge of the wedge. A slippery slope. Standards are slipping. People aren’t doing things right anymore.
Or maybe, it’s a symbol of a new freedom. We are no longer to be bounded by outmoded conventions. Put that pickle anywhere you want! (Somehow, that didn’t really come out the way I meant it.)
I don’t know whether to be happy or disturbed by this turn of events. I do know that my mouth is confused. I’ve tried to go with the flow, and eat my burgers however they are handed to me, but it just doesn’t work.
Old dog. New tricks. You see the problem.
I’ve taken to rebuilding my sandwiches on the spot. Sometimes, I even just turn them over, and eat them upside down.
But I sure do wonder.
* upside down text courtesy of fliptext.com
