Love That Chicken at Popeyes

First of all, there is an ambiguous use of the apostrophe in their logo.  And I think I don't like orange.  But Popeyes has me.

The first time I had fried chicken, I probably liked it.  But who knows.  Today I think that it may be the best taste on earth.  Do you think I'm overselling this?  Imagine if there weren't any fried things, and we had the wherewithall to show a little restraint, or maybe the government decided to do that for us; but either way, a bite of fried chicken was all that was available at any one time.  People would be lining up for their daily hit of this stuff and whoever sold it could charge quite a bit.

Would the government take their cut and control the supply?

If so, would it be a legal or illegal operation?

I once heard Chelsea Handler say that we should know better.  She said that when someone eats fried chicken, they actually know deep down inside that they shouldn't be eating it.  I suppose the idea is that if something is so good, it has to be bad.  That's a strong idea in our culture, but it doesn't stop anything from being sold.  I think it increases consumption.  Nobody ever says "Hey, man, try this broccoli.  I'll give you a taste.  Go on.  Everybody's doing it."  Maybe that idea is why soda and dessert are so popular, and sex is so misappropriated; ambiguously and simultaneously celebrated and maligned.  Smoking and drinking have probably benefited from this idea as well.  But the idea of vice is so old, it's hard to tell.  Can we imagine a world where people didn't feel as if they should go after and/or resist what they want?  We accept animals doing what they want, and consider that innocence or instinct, as if something so simple could be both.  But people are supposed to decide, and then act or hold back.  Doing what you want can be courageous, evil, morally neutral, despicable, or just a matter of taste.  It can be interpreted as the one defining characteristic of a person's life or a minor detail unworthy of comment.

The first time I ate Popeyes was at a restaurant on Sand Lake Road and International Drive in Orlando.  I was very familiar with the character of Popeye, and surprised that the place didn't serve spinach.  And I had no idea that I would be living and working very close to that store for years, later on.  We were on a high school trip to Disney World and the bus stopped in a parking lot between Burger King and Popeyes.  There was a small amusement park there also, and our instructions were to eat at one of those restaurants and then meet up at a certain time later inside the park, which boasted arcade games and a Ferris wheel.

Today, I ate at another Popeyes, and the manager Samuel saw me coming and started getting my order ready before I even gave it.  I suppose you can tell that I could tell that he could tell he'd seen me before.  I came to the conclusion that the spicy chicken at Popeyes was the best single taste on earth when there was a show on television that involved putting something on a spoon and the judges judged it just by taste and how it looked sitting there on the spoon.  They didn't know what the taste was, and were supposed to be more authentic in their judgement; also not knowing who cooked what.  I was out of work, and drinking a lot of water.  I was held hostage by the idea that water is good and salt is bad, and I didn't have much money or much to do.  So I was drinking a lot of water.  I later realized that the level of salt and water needs to be within a certain range for life to continue.  Thankfully I figured this out before I did any additional damage to myself for such a stupid reason.  At the time, I was craving salt.  And Popeyes filled the bill magnificently.

One day it occurred to me that if fried chicken didn't look like it does, and wasn't presented how it is, that a boutique restaurant could charge a fortune for it.  Put that same flavor on a smaller plate with a mixture of colors and an expensive entree would be born that people would line the block for- if they didn't know they could already get it at Popeyes on the corner for a couple bucks.

Thanks Popeyes for saving my life when I was drinking too much water.  And thanks for the deal on the back of the receipt that made it possible, even for someone with little funds at the time.

I still wish you had spinach.