Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Proust's Madeleine Redux

Maria came into our novel-writing class yesterday carrying a fragrant bag from Subway. As she unwrapped a big sandwich she said, "I don't eat meat...except pepperoni and salami." I said, "So you're saying you're a vegetarian who only eats pepperoni and salami? I know I'm going to use that in a book someday!"

She said she can't give up pepperoni and salami because she comes from an Italian family and they remind her of her grandma. Then she dug into her sub and the teacher went on to talk about how logic belongs to the character and may not make sense to anyone else. And I just knew Maria was sitting in her grandma's warm, moist kitchen, eating something rich with tomatoes, garlic and spicy meat that definitely didn't come from Subway.

5 comments:

  1. When Mrs. Cartophiliac is in one of her Vegetarian phases, she still cannot resist sausage. It is hard to take the Cincinnati German out of the non-meat eater...

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  2. Yes, she did make sense to me. Then again, I live in the gray areas of the world and rarely venture out into the black or white.

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  3. I would have either demanded half or made her wait to eat. You are too kind. My stomach is a tyrant, I would not have been able to concentrate, and I see that the times must have changed...

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  4. Times have changed. My students rarely eat in my classes unless it's a granola bar or something. They aren't supposed to eat at all in the computer labs, but sometimes I bake cookies and bring them in for the last day. In my graduate classes, several people out of a dozen might be eating whole meals. It is rather distracting sometimes.

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