My favorite expression of this sentiment is by the Roman African playwright Terence, who wrote, "Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto," or "I am human; nothing human is alien to me."
[I haven't eaten McD's for decades as I boycott cruelty but I would definitely go there if it had an Impossible Big Mac -- there is an Impossible Whopper! -- or a Beyond Big Mac or some other such delicious, cruelty-free, junk food.]
Wait, the burgers are pre-cooked and then reheated? That is genuinely ... not good.
Almost makes me regret dragging my wife, on our honeymoon, to a McDonald's in Paris to ask for a quarter pounder with cheese, and laugh like a crazy person when they said they don't have that. Almost.
It seems to me most modern journalists are profoundly incurious. For example, they have gone a year and a half without expressing any interest in or curiosity abut the origins of the worst human viral pandemic in decades.
I ate a Big Mac yesterday. God, they’re great. People who write for the New Yorker and have never had a Big Mac are the reason people who hate liberals hate liberals.
I'm also surprised at the number of commenters here who have never even eaten at a McD's let alone tried a Big Mac. I guess growing up in Wisconsin, life was different. Not only did we regularly eat at McD's, I worked at one in my teen years. So did my husband, sister, brother-in-law, etc (BTW, all college educated also). If it wasn't McD's, then it was BK. On the weekends, the McD I worked at was on what I'll call "college bar street" so we were open late enough that when the bars closed, we got all the drunk college kids who came in with serious munchies. They were hideously obnoxious but working the closing shift meant you often got to eat the leftover food. I always wanted to do the fry station clean-up because, yes, the fries were delicious!
As for the differences in the different burgers- the patties, cheese and onions on the Big Mac were the same as the ones on the regular and double cheese burgers. The difference was the bun, sauce and lettuce.
I agree with all the commenters who basically stated: 1) the quarter pounder is better and 2) the fish sandwich is terrible! Wendy's has a good fish sandwich but only during Lent (seriously??), and Arby's recently came out with a pretty good fish sandwich.
Of course as time has moved on, so have my food choices (mostly). Still, I do think there is a real danger in food snobbery, not unlike other forms of snobbery. The middle of the country still eats a lot of fast food, listens to country music, watches trash TV, goes to NASCAR and drinks cheap beer. There's absolutely no reason for liberals/progressives to get judgy; especially abhorrent is the passive-aggressive version of this judginess. When you do, don't be surprised if people don't want to listen to anything substantive you might have to say. Condescension from the left is a big, big problem.
My food snobbery is that Culver's is much better than McD's, so why eat at a McD's in WI? (Yeah, if you're really low on $$$, then McD's is the way to go, but the Culver's kids meal is a steal; I know more than a couple adults who get it.)
I feel like this might sort of be virtue signaling on how down-to-earth you are. I probably haven’t had a Big Mac since I was six. To my six-year-old tastebuds, the cheese was gross. I liked the ordinary burger better. And even now I have nostalgia for the sad grey patty garnished with a pickle.
Or maybe this is a test that your fluffiest articles get the most engagement. I totally get the frustration, but most of your “real” articles I don’t have a lot to add to the conversation.
😂 this is the one I'll add a comment to. Oh well. Good stuff, Matt. Some of your posts should remind me that my preferences are mine, and it's okay to have them.
A few years ago, I reflected on how my favorite grilled cheese as a kid was with Velveeta so I bought some and really enjoyed the grilled cheese. It was embarrassing how long it had been since my last. I told my wife she may want one. She was suspect, but then really enjoyed it too. American cheese is now a staple to the point I buy it at Costco. My snobbiness had gotten in the way of a preference of mine, which for me was sad. If I were paid to write an article about a fancy new grilled cheese, I'd compare it to my childhood in my head, and probably not mention the comparison in the article because who cares. And I'd probably just keep making my preference of Velveeta grilled cheese as opposed to the fancy one because that's what I prefer.
One thing where conservatives really have liberals number is snobbery: they get that a lot of what motivates the attitude of right-thinking liberals (not D voters but the people who write for prestige outlets and the people who run or donate to the Democratic party) is a desire to seem different from people of generally similar background who have bad taste and embarrassing opinions. This is *mostly snobbery*, it doesn’t actually make you a better person & it not the best motive in politics.
I love opera & I’m turned off by the idea of Disney World or jet skis or going on a cruise (although I have eaten a big mac and have been to a shooting range out of curiosity - it was fun). I don’t feel the need to rejigger my tastes to be less snooty, I am who I am, but they come from my background, it would be idiotic to confuse them with moral worth or good politics. Left wing politics has to involve poorer people voting for a party that protects their interests or it is all a game.
Cruises are extremely underrated. A massive ship with an endless number of activities, nightly entertainment, and unlimited food? Also, it's sailing around the Caribbean, so you can visit some of the finest beaches in the world and explore Caribbean culture. I know I sound like a Royal Carribean ad, but I stand by it
Agreed. Had absolutely zero desire to go on one. Ever. Until a freebie arose courtesy of the 'rents some years ago. (Dad must've had a good year). Who am I to pass up a free vacation? Significant others were in invited and everything! I have to say it was far better than I'd dared hoped. We did the Caribbean as it happens. Royal Caribbean, as it happens. Ten days in March when the weather still sucks in Boston. I had fears of crowding and long lines. But no, it's basically a floating pleasure palace. Drank kick-ass rum on a Jamaican beach after horseback riding. Saw some whacked out pyramids in Mexico. Finally saw what all the fuss with Aruba is about (Newton with sand, from what I could tell). Caymans. Curacao. Definitely worth doing at least once, for the experience.
Cruises generally have never sounded great to me -- I don't need "unlimited" food, I want a variety of _interesting_ food that I might not get regularly back home. Most of their "entertainment" options (like lounge singer shows aren't my thing) aren't my thing. And I don't want to go from port to port and only spend a day there, and then be bottled up on the boat... I want to actually have a few days to wander around.
So, fine, I very much have the snob tourism style -- but I don't really care what anyone else does! If you love cruises, by all means, go on cruises! (Though maybe read up on how the companies treat their workers, and see if you can find a way to ask them to do better.)
The last long trip I took, I went to a town in Baja del Sur that is a popular tourist destination for middle- to upper-middle-class _Mexicans_, and hung out for a week. My Spanish is just good enough that the fact that local service workers _don't_ always speak great English wasn't a big impediment, we could muddle through.
But: I really want to go on the JoCo cruise someday. I still don't understand how the author of this article ends up saying he _doesn't_ think he'd do it again. It sounds like the best parts of an sf con, stretched out and mixed with the best aspects of the cruise concept.
When my father was in the army, we took a boat from the Brooklyn Navy Yard to Bremerhaven, Germany. Our Buick came along and powered us down the autobahn to Hesse. This was a fun bit of practical cruising. I’m not the man for just sailing around.
I hate going foreign places and being surrounded by Americans or having my activities chosen by somebody else. The one time my boyfriend and I went to the Caribbean cost of Mexico I insisted that we spend zero time in Cancun, & that we rent a car and drive around the Yucatan peninsula. It was probably as much fun as a cruise would have been but it took a huge amount of time to plan and it would have been impossible with kids.
I am willing write a New Yorker article about how I have strong opinions about cruises in spite of never having tried one. If I liked it it would undermine my sense of self. What if jet skis are more fun than kayaks?
Just throwing it out there that I tried a Big Mac for the first time on Saturday night because of this. I thought it was okay. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
With Marc leaving, I was just wondering "where's Claire been?" And then I see you posted something here on the sly. :)
Big Mac's are gross. You always want to go as simple as possible at McDs.
Matt, shouldn't you disclose that you went to highschool with Kenji?
My favorite expression of this sentiment is by the Roman African playwright Terence, who wrote, "Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto," or "I am human; nothing human is alien to me."
She has never had a Big Mac but she did glance at one once, through a monocle, with a look of bemused indifference:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4d/Original_New_Yorker_cover.png/1200px-Original_New_Yorker_cover.png
[I haven't eaten McD's for decades as I boycott cruelty but I would definitely go there if it had an Impossible Big Mac -- there is an Impossible Whopper! -- or a Beyond Big Mac or some other such delicious, cruelty-free, junk food.]
MattY giving a shoutout to Kenji is a crossover I never knew I wanted
Wait, the burgers are pre-cooked and then reheated? That is genuinely ... not good.
Almost makes me regret dragging my wife, on our honeymoon, to a McDonald's in Paris to ask for a quarter pounder with cheese, and laugh like a crazy person when they said they don't have that. Almost.
Should've ordered a Royale with Cheese. They got the metric system there, they wouldn't know what a quarter pounder is.
It seems to me most modern journalists are profoundly incurious. For example, they have gone a year and a half without expressing any interest in or curiosity abut the origins of the worst human viral pandemic in decades.
Yeah, Trump-centric polarization has had wild results.
I ate a Big Mac yesterday. God, they’re great. People who write for the New Yorker and have never had a Big Mac are the reason people who hate liberals hate liberals.
I'm also surprised at the number of commenters here who have never even eaten at a McD's let alone tried a Big Mac. I guess growing up in Wisconsin, life was different. Not only did we regularly eat at McD's, I worked at one in my teen years. So did my husband, sister, brother-in-law, etc (BTW, all college educated also). If it wasn't McD's, then it was BK. On the weekends, the McD I worked at was on what I'll call "college bar street" so we were open late enough that when the bars closed, we got all the drunk college kids who came in with serious munchies. They were hideously obnoxious but working the closing shift meant you often got to eat the leftover food. I always wanted to do the fry station clean-up because, yes, the fries were delicious!
As for the differences in the different burgers- the patties, cheese and onions on the Big Mac were the same as the ones on the regular and double cheese burgers. The difference was the bun, sauce and lettuce.
I agree with all the commenters who basically stated: 1) the quarter pounder is better and 2) the fish sandwich is terrible! Wendy's has a good fish sandwich but only during Lent (seriously??), and Arby's recently came out with a pretty good fish sandwich.
Of course as time has moved on, so have my food choices (mostly). Still, I do think there is a real danger in food snobbery, not unlike other forms of snobbery. The middle of the country still eats a lot of fast food, listens to country music, watches trash TV, goes to NASCAR and drinks cheap beer. There's absolutely no reason for liberals/progressives to get judgy; especially abhorrent is the passive-aggressive version of this judginess. When you do, don't be surprised if people don't want to listen to anything substantive you might have to say. Condescension from the left is a big, big problem.
My food snobbery is that Culver's is much better than McD's, so why eat at a McD's in WI? (Yeah, if you're really low on $$$, then McD's is the way to go, but the Culver's kids meal is a steal; I know more than a couple adults who get it.)
Emblematic
I feel like this might sort of be virtue signaling on how down-to-earth you are. I probably haven’t had a Big Mac since I was six. To my six-year-old tastebuds, the cheese was gross. I liked the ordinary burger better. And even now I have nostalgia for the sad grey patty garnished with a pickle.
Or maybe this is a test that your fluffiest articles get the most engagement. I totally get the frustration, but most of your “real” articles I don’t have a lot to add to the conversation.
This makes me want a Big Mac, Matt should get sponsored by McD.
😂 this is the one I'll add a comment to. Oh well. Good stuff, Matt. Some of your posts should remind me that my preferences are mine, and it's okay to have them.
A few years ago, I reflected on how my favorite grilled cheese as a kid was with Velveeta so I bought some and really enjoyed the grilled cheese. It was embarrassing how long it had been since my last. I told my wife she may want one. She was suspect, but then really enjoyed it too. American cheese is now a staple to the point I buy it at Costco. My snobbiness had gotten in the way of a preference of mine, which for me was sad. If I were paid to write an article about a fancy new grilled cheese, I'd compare it to my childhood in my head, and probably not mention the comparison in the article because who cares. And I'd probably just keep making my preference of Velveeta grilled cheese as opposed to the fancy one because that's what I prefer.
One thing where conservatives really have liberals number is snobbery: they get that a lot of what motivates the attitude of right-thinking liberals (not D voters but the people who write for prestige outlets and the people who run or donate to the Democratic party) is a desire to seem different from people of generally similar background who have bad taste and embarrassing opinions. This is *mostly snobbery*, it doesn’t actually make you a better person & it not the best motive in politics.
I love opera & I’m turned off by the idea of Disney World or jet skis or going on a cruise (although I have eaten a big mac and have been to a shooting range out of curiosity - it was fun). I don’t feel the need to rejigger my tastes to be less snooty, I am who I am, but they come from my background, it would be idiotic to confuse them with moral worth or good politics. Left wing politics has to involve poorer people voting for a party that protects their interests or it is all a game.
Cruises are extremely underrated. A massive ship with an endless number of activities, nightly entertainment, and unlimited food? Also, it's sailing around the Caribbean, so you can visit some of the finest beaches in the world and explore Caribbean culture. I know I sound like a Royal Carribean ad, but I stand by it
Agreed. Had absolutely zero desire to go on one. Ever. Until a freebie arose courtesy of the 'rents some years ago. (Dad must've had a good year). Who am I to pass up a free vacation? Significant others were in invited and everything! I have to say it was far better than I'd dared hoped. We did the Caribbean as it happens. Royal Caribbean, as it happens. Ten days in March when the weather still sucks in Boston. I had fears of crowding and long lines. But no, it's basically a floating pleasure palace. Drank kick-ass rum on a Jamaican beach after horseback riding. Saw some whacked out pyramids in Mexico. Finally saw what all the fuss with Aruba is about (Newton with sand, from what I could tell). Caymans. Curacao. Definitely worth doing at least once, for the experience.
Cruises generally have never sounded great to me -- I don't need "unlimited" food, I want a variety of _interesting_ food that I might not get regularly back home. Most of their "entertainment" options (like lounge singer shows aren't my thing) aren't my thing. And I don't want to go from port to port and only spend a day there, and then be bottled up on the boat... I want to actually have a few days to wander around.
So, fine, I very much have the snob tourism style -- but I don't really care what anyone else does! If you love cruises, by all means, go on cruises! (Though maybe read up on how the companies treat their workers, and see if you can find a way to ask them to do better.)
The last long trip I took, I went to a town in Baja del Sur that is a popular tourist destination for middle- to upper-middle-class _Mexicans_, and hung out for a week. My Spanish is just good enough that the fact that local service workers _don't_ always speak great English wasn't a big impediment, we could muddle through.
But: I really want to go on the JoCo cruise someday. I still don't understand how the author of this article ends up saying he _doesn't_ think he'd do it again. It sounds like the best parts of an sf con, stretched out and mixed with the best aspects of the cruise concept.
https://www.wired.com/2014/12/nerd-cruise/
When my father was in the army, we took a boat from the Brooklyn Navy Yard to Bremerhaven, Germany. Our Buick came along and powered us down the autobahn to Hesse. This was a fun bit of practical cruising. I’m not the man for just sailing around.
I hate going foreign places and being surrounded by Americans or having my activities chosen by somebody else. The one time my boyfriend and I went to the Caribbean cost of Mexico I insisted that we spend zero time in Cancun, & that we rent a car and drive around the Yucatan peninsula. It was probably as much fun as a cruise would have been but it took a huge amount of time to plan and it would have been impossible with kids.
I am willing write a New Yorker article about how I have strong opinions about cruises in spite of never having tried one. If I liked it it would undermine my sense of self. What if jet skis are more fun than kayaks?
I’ve never tried a Big Mac but mostly because I don’t like cheese or ketchup. When I eat at McDonald’s I just have a McChicken.