#mmmaaaa

I am sorry for leaving you all hanging for so long between entries. I know it must have been tough. My plan was to do one this past Saturday while I worked the Sebastian Maniscalco show. I would have talked about how no one has ever said that guy's last name out loud. Even his fans, paying their hard-earned money to buy tickets, just mumble something like "Sebastian Maniscotti," or "Sebastian Mmmaaaa," in hopes that we finish their sentence for them, or "The show on May 20th." I believe that if anyone were to actually say this guy's name, some sort of Beetlejuice type of shit might happen. His name being spoken is what gives him power. Anyway, I never got a chance to get lunch that day, because I just kept getting interrupted and sidetracked, until all of a sudden it was show time.

I got sent on some errands on my bike for work today shortly after starting the day, and I thought about just stopping for lunch while I was out living that hashtag #messlife, but I just knew it was too soon, so I held off for a couple more hours so I could take my break at the usual time. I picked a great day and time to get lunch, because today it was Ashley making the burritos! I was so relieved to see her and know that my burrito was going to be made right. She got two tortillas warming up right away. Plenty of rice. Plenty of beans. The fajita veggies still don't look as good as they used to, but they looked much better than other recent times. The greens of the green bell peppers were very green and bright instead of gray and shitty like I've gotten used to. When we got near the end, another Qdoba employee (I think? Either that or she was just a very curious stranger who stood way too close to me) came over and commented that it looked like a good burrito and asked about my eating habits (the whole no meat thing). I hate trying to explain that sort of thing in just a sentence or two, because my reasons are both very personal and complex and probably full of contradiction (like, is there any such thing as ethical consumption under capitalism? Probably not). Ashley said, "He always gets these big veggie ones," as she wrapped the second tortilla, and I took that opportunity to say that not everyone makes them so well, and that they often skimp on the beans. Then I explained my theory of other people projecting their own eating habits into my burrito, like if they don't like beans, they won't give me lots of beans. She told me that it's ok to tell them I want more beans. I think maybe she was about to let me know who to look for and who to avoid. She started by saying, "You know some of the other people who work here, like umm, Ronnie?" and I lied and said that I would recognize them, because I can't really say that I have made up names for pretty much every employee at that particular Qdoba, and she and Ronnie are the only two who I have any clue as to their actual names. She said that a lot of people will do fly-bys and check to see if their friends or favorite burrito engineers are working. I totally believe that is a real thing, because I feel like I know exactly what to expect as soon as I see who is behind the bar. She didn't really tell me who else was good, but that could be because she's the only one these days.

I wanted to gossip with Ashley more. I wanted to tell her about the mission to Seattle. I wanted to ask about Dizzy Gillespie's rolling style. I wanted the whole story about what happened to the fajita veggies. I wanted to ask about the future of the food court at the mall so I could try go gauge how much time we have left. I wanted to ask about the Technician or the Abbot, whose voice is/was like a song. Where are those guys? I also knew that she probably needed to get back to work, and so did I.

Thanks to those bonus points I got on Mother's Day, today was a free burrito for me. It's always so gratifying when the free burrito is an Ashley burrito. It really does feel like a reward for all that I have endured.