Justifying Desert Island Needs II - The Hamburger Defence

Continued from Part I

Really, I just want to give the big defense for why I have a desert island list in the first place.

Why re-read or re-view anything?

The hamburger will serve as a convenient and, if I do say so myself, rather mouth-watering analogy.

Out one evening, alone or otherwise, you saunter into some burger joint. That first time was luck, or maybe it was word-of-mouth, or was it advertising? I don't care! I'm not conducting market research here. The point is the burger. The burger is juicy; it's delicious - face it, it's fucking fantastic. (Kua 'Aina burger in Osaka (or Tokyo or Honolulu) comes to mind.) (Agree to disagree, Troy.)

The question then, on your next eat-outing is: why fight the urge to repeat the experience?

1. Anything that good once can be twice and thrice etc, ad infinitum, equally good, can it not? Like a classic chocolate bar, like a Wonderbar or a Snickers.

2. If you know said hamburger is THAT good, why try the Chinese place across the street when you know chances are you'll be disappointed. When was the last time you tried a new Chinese place across the street and weren't disappointed?

3. Some people are always looking for the new, the exciting, the different. They search for it wanting new friends, downloading - nay, stockpiling - new albums, trying out new and exotic vegetables with furry exteriors and smelly interiors. Others of us keep our social worlds smaller, our restaurant choices narrower, our movie selections tighter. This just a personality type. But I'm sorry, give me a plain cold cucumber any day and I'm happy. I don't need it to get much fancier than that. (Though truth told I do love arugula. Arugula is good in a salad.)

4. Comfort food. I'm having a crap day. I need a pick-me up. I don't want new. I don't want change. I want familiar. That burger I've had six million times before is good. It always is. I'm going back for that. Screw you guys.

5. In truth, other than taste and my ever expanding belly cravings, I keep going back for that burger to figure out how they made it that good in the first place. Cause one day, I wouldn't mind making a burger worth returning to, even if it's just a bite-size thing.