What Your Favorite Sandwich Says About You

Whether it's lunch or a midnight snack.  At home or in a restaurant.  Now and then or daily.  We all have our favorite sandwich.  It might be something simple from childhood that we turned into a more adult offering, or maybe something exotic.

But do you know what your choice of sandwich…your favorite…says about you and your character?  Put your horoscope and astrological signs aside and pay attention to your sandwich. :)

I recently came across a list of 10 popular sandwiches and what they say about those who consider that specific sandwich their favorite.  Now, this list only mentions the main ingredient and does not take into consideration how you dress up and customize that sandwich—specialty bread or roll, exotic cheeses, various spreads, other touches such as lettuce and/or tomato, etc.

TURKEY SANDWICH

If this is your first choice on the menu, you like to play it safe in life.  You like to know what to expect.  You're not interested in the latest fad.  All things classic make you smile.

PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY SANDWICH

You're predictable, but in a good way.  You're very loyal and your friends feel they can trust you with their lives.

BLT SANDWICH

If the bacon-lettuce-tomato is your favorite, you know how to spot a good thing.  You like to keep life simple, fill it with good times, and avoid drama.

GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICH

You're carefree, the life of the party, and specialize in having a good time.  Everyone loves you.

DONUT BREAKFAST SANDWICH

This might not be what you want to hear, but you are crazy intense.  That can have its down side, but it also means you're very passionate and a serious risk taker.  Nothing scares you.

MUFFULETTA SANDWICH (I have to admit that I don't know what this is and have never noticed it on a menu)

You're a mover and a shaker.  People come to you when they need a problem solved or just a good dose of inspiration.

PULLED PORK SANDWICH

You like to walk, not run.  You're a lover, not a fighter.  You always stop to smell the roses.

REUBEN SANDWICH

If this is your first choice, you have a bold voice and you're not afraid to make it heard.  Loud And Proud is your life motto.  You're the natural leader of any gathering.

TUNA MELT SANDWICH

You're an old soul.  Words flow from you like beautiful poetry.  You don't bother with appearances and you don't need to because you're so beautiful on the inside.

BOLOGNA SANDWICH

You're a hopeless romantic, swept up with feelings of nostalgia.  But you are going to have to grow up some time.

I don't know how they arrived at the 10 specific sandwiches listed in the article.  There are several popular ones not on this list.  The first thing that came to my mind was whether chicken and turkey were considered to be the same.  Then I thought about the Club sandwich—a combination of the BLT, turkey with some ham thrown in.  And speaking of ham, there's also the Ham sandwich and its close relative the Ham and Cheese sandwich.

And, of course, there are also those two all-American creations that are extremely popular—the Hamburger and the favorite at baseball games, the Hot Dog.

Morality In America

A week ago I came across the just released results of an interesting poll conducted by CNN delving into the same behaviors as a poll conducted by Time Magazine in 1987.  It tackles several behaviors falling under the general category of morality.  The survey shows an interesting shift in American attitudes in the nearly 3 decades since the Time Magazine poll.

In the 1987 Time Magazine poll, 7 out of the 8 listed behaviors were considered by the majority of Americans to be morally wrong.  In 2014, only 3 of the behaviors are thought to be morally wrong by the majority of those surveyed.

Public opinion has changed most drastically on the topics of marijuana and homosexuality.  Interestingly, the top 2 behaviors considered morally wrong in 1987 are the same 2 that top today's list—being married and having sex with someone else, and cheating on your taxes.

In the 1987 Time Magazine poll, the 8 issues considered (listed with the same wording used on the poll) and the percentage of those surveyed who believed the described action to be morally wrong are:

     Being married and having sex with someone else       92%

     Cheating on your taxes                                             86%

     Engaging in homosexual behavior                              82%

     Smoking marijuana                                                   70%

     Having an abortion                                                   62%

     Looking at a pornographic magazine                         58%

     Living with someone when you're not married           54%

     Drinking alcoholic beverages                                    38%

In the 2014 CNN poll, the 8 issues considered and the percentage of those surveyed who believed the described action to be morally wrong are:

     Being married and having sex with someone else       93%

     Cheating on your taxes                                             90%

     Having an abortion                                                   57%

     Engaging in homosexual behavior                              50%

     Looking at a pornographic magazine                         46%

     Smoking marijuana                                                   35%

     Living with someone when you're not married           32%

     Drinking alcoholic beverages                                    16%

The CNN poll was conducted via telephone interviews January 3-5, 2014.  The article I read did not mention the criteria for selecting those interviewed for the poll.

WHO ORDERS DELIVERY FOOD?

I recently came across the results of a poll released December 2013 about having food delivered, primarily to the home but sometimes to the office.  The first thing that struck me was the poll's topic—not a political issue, or anything else commonly seen in the daily news headlines, subjects constantly demanding yet another poll.  This one was about people who, either via phone call or on the internet, order food to be delivered to them and where these people live.  In other words, which American city orders the most delivery food.

Here are some of the results of that poll.

Chicago is the number one U.S. city for late night food delivery with 14% of the city's total orders occurring between 10PM and 6AM.  New York City and San Francisco are tied for second place, and right behind them are Los Angeles and Washington D.C. tied for third with 10% of their orders outside normal business hours.  Chicago's place of honor as number one is probably due to it being the coldest of the cities that placed in the poll.  When the wind chill temperature is below zero, no one wants to go out when they can have food delivered while they stay inside, all warm and toasty.

For late night deliveries, pizza is king of the hill, taking the top spot in kind of food ordered in all surveyed cities…except Los Angeles.  During dinner hours, the top order in all cities was some sort of Asian food—Thai/Vietnamese in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Chicago; Chinese in Washington; and Japanese/Sushi in New York.

Los Angeles was the most consistent between dinner and late night orders of the cities included in the poll, with its choice of food.  Following its leading choice of Thai/Vietnamese, Los Angeles went for Chinese, Italian (other than pizza), pizza, and Indian with Indian and pizza switching spots after 10PM.

Washington D.C. is the only city where Middle Eastern/Mediterranean food makes both the dinner list (at #5) and the late night list (at #3).  Mexican barely made the list for late night Chicago (at #5) and didn't show up on any other city's list.

What's your favorite type of delivery food?  Or do you keep your freezer filled with food items that can be easily and quickly run through the microwave thus putting the ready to eat food into your hands even quicker than ordering and waiting for delivery?

Those We Lost In 2013…

As with every year, the world lost many people from entertainment, politics, and the worldwide platform in general.  I narrowed down a long list to a cross-section of 13 notables for the year 2013.  In trying to decide the order for the list of names, I finally settled on chronological for date of death starting with the most recent rather than alphabetical.

Joan Fontaine, Actress—died December 15, 2013

Best Actress Oscar winner for the 1941 Alfred Hitchcock film SUSPICION, starring opposite Cary Grant.  Sister of Oscar winning actress Olivia de Havilland.

Peter O'Toole, Actor—died December 14, 2013

Probably best known for his leading role as the title character in LAWRENCE OF ARABIA.  Nominated 8 times for a best actor Oscar.  Turned down an honorary Oscar for his collective body of work.  My personal favorite of Peter O'Toole's movies is the 1982 comedy MY FAVORITE YEAR.

Nelson Mandela, South African President—died December 5, 2013

Prominent political figure in South Africa's politics, imprisoned for many years because of his fight to end Apartheid, emerged from prison to be elected President of South Africa.

Paul Walker, Actor—died November 20, 2013

Most recently noted for his work in the FAST AND FURIOUS movies, ironically died in a car crash.

Tom Clancy, Author—died October 1, 2013

Gave us many best selling novels, several made into movies such as THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER, PATRIOT GAMES and CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER with several different actors portraying his Jack Ryan character in various films.  SHADOW RECRUIT, the most recent movie featuring Clancy's Jack Ryan character, is scheduled for release in the U.S. on January 17, 2014.

James Gandolfini, Actor—died June 19, 2013

Best known for his role as Tony Soprano in the HBO television series THE SOPRANOS.

Jean Stapleton, Actress—died May 31, 2013

A long acting career, but she's best known as Edith Bunker, wife of the outspoken Archie Bunker on ALL IN THE FAMILY, the ground breaking television series from the 1970s.

George Jones, Singer—died April 26, 2013

A long career as a country singer.

Jonathan Winters, Comedian—died April 11, 2013

A long career as a comedian and comedy actor, including the role of Robin Williams and Pam Dawber's son on the television series MORK & MINDY.  I loved him in IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD along with several other brilliant comedy actors.

Annette Funicello, Actress—died April 8, 2013

Started her career as one of the original Mickey Mouse Club Mouseketeers followed by several starring movie roles before her career was short circuited by Multiple Sclerosis which she battled for many years.

Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister United Kingdom—died April 8, 2013

The first and so far only woman to ever hold the office as the United Kingdom's Prime Minister.  She served three terms 1979-1990 and was known as the Iron Lady.  In 1992, the title of Baroness was bestowed on her.

Roger Ebert, Film Critic—died April 4, 2013

Long time film critic for the Chicago Sun Times, partnered on television for many years with film critic Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune where they became well-known for their thumbs up and thumbs down movie reviews.  In 1975 he won a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.

Ed Koch, New York City Mayor—died February 1, 2013

He served three terms as Mayor from 1978 through 1989 and is credited with saving New York City from bankruptcy.

As I said, this is only a small cross-section of those we lost in 2013.