Start with a Good Burger

This week I’d like to talk about a trend I’ve noticed. Burgers are getting taller. Maybe you’ve noticed this as well. You order a burger and when it arrives, it’s…just tall to the point where you’ve got to squash it to get a decent bite.

Why am I talking about this, you might ask? Well, to answer that, I’ve got to take a step back.

Whenever I go to a new city, somewhere I’ve never been before, I find the first place to eat that strikes my fancy, and I’ll order a burger. How good that burger turns out to be will – for better or worse – color my opinion about the city.

Now some of you might thank that’s kind of random and more than a bit unfair, but here me out.

A burger is pretty basic, I’m sure we can agree on that. At the nuts and bolts level it’s just a slab of beef on two pieces of bread. Takes practically no effort to make a passing fair burger – and believe me, I’ve had my fair share of Meh-burgers.

From that baseline, you can really only go up – yes, I know it’s possible to head in the other direction but that actually requires some effort, even if that effort is directed toward not caring how the burger turns out.

Here’s where I think we’re starting to see the beginnings of the jaw-stretcher burger. Places really want to make a stand out burger so they’ve started piling stuff on top – and that’s fundamentally not a bad thing, you’ve got cheese, bacon, a sauce of some kind, the list goes on and on, but things are starting to go too far.

Start with a good burger. Get the right kind of seasoning in there. Trust that if I’m looking for jalapenos, you can chop them up and put them right in the mix.

Do the basics justice. Get those rock solid, THEN, add that something, that bit of personal touch that makes the burger Yours.

Now you might think that I’m talking about food – and I am – but I’m also not.

Whatever it is you’re doing, get the basics down solid. Make them second nature, but don’t ever treat them as mindless tasks. Be present, then add that thing that makes it yours. Get it in there at such a fundamental level that there can be no doubt as to whom made it.

Now, despite all of the above, I’m not knocking the Jaw-Stretcher burger. I had one very recently that was really good. What I’m trying to say is make it your own, and if that means I’ve got to do a Shaggy to get it down, make that a deliberate decision.

Thanks for reading. Be safe out there. Be Excellent to Each other – and yourself.

I’ll see you on Thursday.

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Crimson Whisper: A Wainwright and Holliday Adventure

Weird Wild West

Trials

Grease Monkeys

Predators in Petticoats