Thursday, August 12, 2010

BloggeRhythms 8/12/2010

If no news is still good news, then the news is really, really good -because there's absolutely no news at all. So that means I can type some more about flying.

While this entry isn't really about flying itself, it does involve aircraft. Back a few years ago a National Sales Manager of the company I was with called me excitedly at our home office in Massachusetts. He was located in Tampa, FL and had just secured an appointment with a National Manager for Canon, USA -the copier people. Our guy wanted me to come to that meeting.

Canon was located in Lake Success on Long Island in New York and the appointment was for the following day. I flew down from Logan in Boston, our guy, Randy F., flew up from Tampa and I met him in LaGuardia Airport. Together, Randy and I rented a car and drove to Lake Success. No pun intended, we had a very successful meeting and won the account.

The meeting ended around noon, and the Canon person, Bill J., suggested lunch. He picked up our business cards from his desk, looked at them and then told us that since we were both from out of town, he'd take us to a real "New York" deli because you couldn't get food like that anywhere else in the U.S.

We got in Bill's car and he drove us into Great Neck, the next town, and then took us into Bruce's, a fine establishment of it's type for sure.

Now, unbeknownst to Bill J., I lived in Great Neck and at that time had been there for more than twenty years. However, I'd never relocated to Massachusetts when I took my current job. I commuted by air every week. So, what Bill had unknowingly done was taken me to a restaurant that was less than a mile from my house.

Not wanting to rain on Bill's parade, because he was so proud of the spot he'd picked for lunch, I said nothing about the fact that I'd passed this place about five thousand times already while driving in town, and even been there twice before. But I hadn't gone back, because, as deli's go -I didn't think it really was too good.

But then, I guess Bill J. didn't realize it but deli-wise, he too was from the sticks. Because I was born and raised in Manhattan, and that's where the real and only "DELI'S" are. There's the Stage, the Carnegie, and even Wolf's. But the Mecca's Katz's on Houston Street, certainly the best deli in New York and likely on the planet.

Katz's is where Billy Crystal took Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally, one of the best New York scenes ever filmed. In fact, you can see it for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-bsf2x-aeE

Back years ago I went to Katz's often, sometimes making the trip from uptown where I lived, just to get a hot dog. The sauerkraut alone was worth the drive. Later on, when crossing town from the East River Drive to the Holland Tunnel, or vice-versa a quick stop at Katz's was always worth going a few blocks out of my way.

Today I think the only things that's really changed is the size of the sandwiches. Even in the Harry Met Sally clip they look kind of small. Because, way back when, it took practice to figure out how to take bites, because the amount of whatever you'd ordered, corned beef, roast beef, turkey, pastrami or anything else was immense.

So, in all due deference to Bill J. from Canon, who'd truly done his best to impress us, I'm certain that lunch at Bruce's wasn't worth my round trip flights from Boston. But, if he'd called me in Boston and suggested meeting at Katz's in the first place, I'd have walked down if I had to, but I certainly would have shown up.

That's it for today folks.

Adios

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