The other evening, Neal and I were sharing the story of his banana sandwich with our friends. Now on the surface, a banana sandwich is a simple thing. Bread, mayo or peanut butter, banana—done!
NOT at our house. First, let’s talk about the sandwich itself. I am assuming a banana sandwich is a national favorite. At least it is here in the South. We are raised on them, so making banana sandwich is a ritual.
Neal and I had not been married long when I offered to make banana sandwiches for lunch. He is a peanut butter devotee, and I am mayonnaise, tried-and-true. Proceeding to make mine, I quickly slapped the mayo on the bread and then rapidly cut up my banana and presto—sandwich done!
When I looked up I saw this look of horror on his face as he exclaimed, “I will make mine!” Very interesting, I thought. What unfolded next was a true revelation for us! I watched as this grown man carefully covered every inch of the bread with evenly applied peanut butter. Next the man literally cut the bananas into slices that were precisely the same size. (By this time, I had already eaten half of my sandwich). He then proceeded to place each slice on the bread, nine slices evenly spaced and turned in the same direction. Oh my gosh, what a production. There were two little banana slices left over, which he ate, as putting them on the sandwich would make it unbalanced.
If I had known he was going to engineer his sandwich, I would have driven him really crazy and cut mine lengthwise instead of into little slices. But I really don’t think his heart could have taken it.
When he was finished he turned to me and said, “This is the proper way to make a banana sandwich!” Really? I actually took a photo of it, as this was a very interesting moment for me. I bet mine tasted the same. No, mine was probably better, because I just piled all my unevenly cut banana slices on the bread.
And if you look closely, he used a paper towel instead of a plate. To which I promptly said, “We use plates!” He was astonished and asked, “Now, why would I want to do that?” So, I ate my uneven banana sandwich on a blue calico plate, while he ate his precisely engineered work of art on a paper towel! This is the stuff fairy tales are made of!