Wal-Mart, Delicatessens, And The Ability To Find Treasures

I live in Memphis. I love this city and I almost always feel that I have available to me everything of any importance that a really big city (NY, Chicago, Houston, etc.) could offer me, minus all the hassle that goes with living in those places. There are only a very few exceptions. Real delicatessens have never been able to make it in this city. There have been attempts - valiant ones, even - but no sustained success.

Today I was at Wal-Mart. Super Wal-Mart, to be precise. I was mostly there to pick-up newly developed photos and to buy new basketballs for the Temple Israel Runnin' Rabbis, the championship high school team I coach (more on the Rabs later this fall as season III heats up). I happened to browse through the deli area, since I was nearby after deciding to get some produce to go along with my photo processing and athletic supplies (the place really does have everything. I love it! Sorry mom and pop, whoever you may actually be). I noticed that the Wal-Mart deli has begun carrying a line of premium deli meats. They have corned beef and pastrami. "Wal-Mart corned beef?", you may be asking. "Please!"

I live in the barbecue capital of the world (St. Louis and every city in Texas can bite me!). I am surrounded by bbq restaurants of all sorts, but some of my favorite que of all time comes from a Citgo station on Hwy. 18 in rural Mississippi. Gas station barbecue. That took me a moment to get used to, but it taught me to remember that treasures can be found in the most unlikely of places. (It also taught me that I could recklessly eat meat of unknown origin, prepared at an establishment that may or may not be subject to health inspections, and by a man I don't know or have any reason, whatsoever, to trust. Well, not no reason. He did have an apron.)

I purchased the corned beef from the Wal-Mart deli. It is lean and flavorful - highly enjoyable. There are many lessons here. 1) For all you Wal-Mart bashers who lament the way they put mom and pop (here's this mysterious pair again!) out of business, remember that mom and pop weren't able to supply my community with good deli the way Wal-Mart does. (there's a sentence I never thought I'd type and I'll bet you never thought you'd read!) 2) We must be careful that we don't over-develop our "taste" in things to the point that we are not willing to try things like gas station meat. Who know's what little treasures we'll miss out on? 3) Sometimes people look at you funny when you purchase several basketballs at at time. 4) Sometimes, I think other people will be interested in boring, pointless stories about cold cuts and super stores, just because I am.