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Thursday June 17, 2021 subscribe |
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| I met Leroy while helping on Al-Mudhif, a Marine veteran
whose first day of Parris Island boot camp happened to be 9/11. He'd been expecting a peacetime stint but ended up doing three infantry tours in Iraq. Compared to that, the Philly Taco Challenge seemed pretty tame, so when he asked if I wanted to try it, what could I say? (I found out later it was his first time, too.) He's an affable guide; on the long walk up Passyunk he pointed out all the best jawns, and at the wide intersection at 9th he explained the differences between Geno's (rightwing, racist, cheap meat) vs. Pat's (actual cuts of steak). We got giant slices at Lorenzo's, and I saw how you could wrap a whole hoagie in one. The cashier was the first ever to comment on my They Live T-shirt: "Is that a band?" Before I could explain it was a film, she remembered seeing it--"the one with the glasses!" Then she asked if I knew Soylent Green. I started to say, "It's people," then exclaimed, "It's pizza! It's pizza!" Got our "wit Whiz" cheesesteaks at Ishkabibble's and found an unoccupied picnic table in the shade of a tree-lined traffic median. I'd been a bit self-conscious about doing such a contrived tourist schtick, but then a passing local interjected, "That's legit!" It was delicious. And not long after, I felt like this. |
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