Day 18 - The Wedge

On Tuesday, I was scheduled to fly from JFK to Austin ahead of Kevin while he stayed behind for a few more days in Peekskill before beginning the long drive to meet me. My JetBlue flight was scheduled to leave at 1:10pm so we took off a little early so we could hit one of Kevin's favorite deli's on the way to the airport.

The place is called Rocky's Deli and is located in Millwood, NY. He has taken me to this legendary out-of-the-way joint on a few other occasions, and I have to admit that those guys know how to make a mean sandwich. I am from Texas and fully admit that I am no conissiuer of chicken parmesan, but the way these guys slather it on there with tons of sauce and extra mozzarella makes your mouth water. I also admit that while we Texans have our Tex-Mex and BBQ down, those funny talking yankees have cornered the market on sandwiches and pizza. The problem that I have is with what they call it - a "wedge." Now, for those of you who don't know (which I assume is the majority of this blogs readers), a "wedge" is the term that a small community of folks who live within a 20 mile radius of a particular area of NY call a sandwich. Rocky's just happens to fall smack dab in the middle of this community. So, if you want to order a chicken parmesan sandwich - you instead would order a "chicken parm wedge." If you make the faux pas of calling it a sandwich, be prepared for disapproving looks and sneers coming in your direction. I discovered this term when I attended a christening shower in the area and was told by the host that there were going to be "drinks and wedges" for refreshment. My blank stare prompted Kevin to explain the situation. You can imagine my confusion!

I have asked MANY people, MANY times why they call it a wedge and no one can even muster up a fake story for me. Your first thought might be - does it look like a wedge? Is it in the shape of a wedge? No. It is not. It looks just like your regular old sub sandwich might look, a la Subway and the famous $5 footlong with its own song. This is the only logical guess that I could muster, so if anyone has a better excuse - lay it on me. Otherwise, I am going to continue to question the legitimacy of this name and cough it up to bad breeding.

On this occasion, Kevin thought it would be funny to make me order lunch so that I would be forced to use the term. Seeing my horrified face at this prospect, he continued the plan once we got inside and refused to order from the guy behind the counter. Annoyed, the frustrated deli worker looked at me for the order, but being the stubborn woman I am, I also refused to order, pretending I wasn't ready yet. Eventually, this hilarious game came to an end when Kevin gave in and ordered for us. I gotta tell you,....it was worth the wait!

I barely made it to JFK in time thanks to some unexpected traffic on the Van Wyck. I thought I would still be okay since Jet Blue has their own terminal, but once I checked in I still managed to get stuck behind a family of 5 who didn't speak English and who had apparently never flown before. I did my best to help using some broken Spanish and wild gesticulation. After I got through the insufferable security line I ran to the gate as they were closing the door and made it to my seat just in time to tune into some Fox News on my Direct TV at my seat.

Miles traveled: 1,747
Strangest sight: A woman eating sushi in the seat next to me on the plane