animals, Business, Food, Gatherings, Stories, work

Relishing Every Bite

42 Comments

On the phone with my friend Pat last week, she reminded me of the following story.

This was about 20 years ago.  Cell phones were a thing but not the ubiquitous kind of thing they are today.  In a department meeting, Lydia’s cell phone (names changed to protect the innocent) buzzed in her pocket.  When she looked at it, she got a funny look and zipped out of the meeting room.  About 5 minutes later she came back in and announced to all of us that she needed to leave.  I don’t know about anybody else, but all kinds of dark thoughts jumped right into my brain.  Sick kids, husband in car accident, mother fallen down steps… that kind of thing.

Apparently her dog had gotten out of the yard and wandered several blocks over to a local gas/convenience store.  He headed straight over to the bread section and proceeded to help himself to a couple packages of hot dog buns before anybody noticed him.  Luckily Lydia and her family had a chip so the local animal control was able to get hold of them pretty quickly.

After she rushed off, the meeting broke down completely.  Apparently we had all thought the same kinds of horrible scenarios and were really relieved that it was a funny story instead of a tragic one.

The next morning when Lydia showed up, her desk was covered in packages of hot dog buns.  I can’t say whose idea that was, but I do remember who did the leg work with a handful of collected cash!

Why do all hot dogs look the same?

42 thoughts on “Relishing Every Bite”

  2. Fun story[ It would be even funnier if the dog was a wiener dog, also known as a dachshund.

    I couldn’t find a picture of a dachshund carrying a bag of hot dog buns, let alone two, but I did find this:

    Actually, I don’t think all hot dogs look the same. Some hot dogs are long, some are short, and Danish hot dogs, known as røde pølser, are long and bright red. Vending carts selling them are ubiquitous in Denmark and are known as pølsevogn. One of my early part-time jobs while I was still in high school was working in one. This is what it looks like:

    https://skjalden.com/polsevogn/

    Thinking about hot dogs made another question pop into my head: Why has the term “hot dog” come to mean a show off, someone who attracts attention to him or herself? See what you started Sherrilee?

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

        1. I think I recall, not from my personal experience but from watching “Midnight Diner” that those very red sausages are also popular in Japan.

          Liked by 2 people

    2. A friend of mine who lives down on the parkway close to me also has a stick Library. She also has a bowl of water for passing pups that has a little heater so that in the winter time it doesn’t freeze over. And of course the regular little library with people books.

      Like

      Reply

      1. You gotta love those dogs and their sticks. Phoebe is intermittent with her stick love. For a while she has a favorite, then forgets sticks entirely.

        Liked by 2 people

        Reply

  4. Luverne has a summer festival called Hotdog Days, where Main Street is closed and downtown merchants grill hotdogs and give them away. They also have weinerdog races. People bring their Dachhounds from all over to run the race course on Main Street

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

      1. Well, he is long with short legs, but the beard would disqualify him as a wienerdog.. Husband would like to get him started in a barn trials.

        Liked by 2 people

        Reply

  6. Driving over to Sandy, I passed a woman walking her dog. About 35, very beautiful, wearing very tall high heels and a bright magenta dress, the kind you would wear to an evening party. She was holding the leash up at shoulder level all dainty like, her little puff ball trotting ahead of her as if they were on a fashion runway.

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply

  7. Rise and Shine, Baboons, and all Baboon-ish Dogs,

    Not all hotdogs look the same. Pekarna Butcher shop in Jordan, a German/Czech tradition there, has skin on, handmade hotdogs in a string like we used to see on cartoons. I consider these sausages, and they are the only hotdogs I willingly eat. Pekarna Bratwurst are also excellent. Wild Rice/Apple is my fave. During our winters in Arizona, I became aware of the absence of any mid-European butcher shop tradition that is more common here. And the meat there was nearly inedible. I took to transporting the meat I buy here in an electric cooler.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  9. Today’s prompt was, to me, not a serious question but the set-up to a punchline. I’ve gone over in my mind all the punny descriptors relating to the physical properties of hot dogs and to words conveying similarity, and I’ve come up blank. So here is my best response:

    Why do all hot dogs look alike?
    They don’t, but they’re in the ball park.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

        2. Well that’s pretty good if you don’t think about it too closely, hot dogs being of uncertain background and all.

          Liked by 2 people

  13. I always wondered why they curve sometimes.
    Brats and polish sausage for me, thank you. Although, we got some beef hotdogs from a place in Iowa, and they were much better than the normal hotdog.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  14. viggie dogs have come a long way. remember worthington fake meat vs circa 1970? loma linda? that was all there was. today beyond burger makes great sausages. its pea based, tofurkey is tofu based, im drawing a blank on the name of the pack of normal semi tasteless veggie dogs that are like oscar meyer. fake meat lunch meat and burgers are wonderful. fake chicken is nice and being a veggie is a matter of ordering off instacart or going to trader joes and youre set.
    stephen colbert had a line the other night about hot dogs being wher they put all the anus meat from pigs and cows and he appeared serious. i had heard ears and lips before. i wonder if rheres sny truth or just old wives tales.
    veggie dogs used to have a problem with casings because casings were a meat produt. they worked it out
    im interested in the petrie dish raised meat. the technology is there but there is a reluctance. i dont get it. if what you get is the same meat as chicken nuggets or ground beef or pork does it matter if it is from a slaughtered animal that gets butchered into familiar cuts or simply grown in a lab and raised like yougurt or cheese but it ends up in an entree section of the store?
    ummm hot dogs
    polka dot cassarole is one of my wifes comfort foods

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    1. Those Loma Linda franks were awful. Our favorite veggie hotdog are the LightLife Smart Dogs although I am also very fond of the Tofurkey sausages. They call them sausages. I call them brats because they’re bigger than your average hot dog.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

Leave a comment