Wednesday, October 22, 2008

"Can I Interest You in the Chicken? Or Would You Prefer..."

Mark at Tales of the Sissy just introduced me to David Sedaris' most recent essay from The New Yorker entitled, "Undecided."

Sedaris wonders, as I do, just who these undecided voters are in the upcoming Presidential election. His explanation is perfect...

"To put them in perspective, I think of being on an airplane. The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat. 'Can I interest you in the chicken?' she asks. 'Or would you prefer the platter of shit with bits of broken glass in it?'

"To be undecided in this election is to pause for a moment and then ask how the chicken is cooked...

"I wonder if, in the end, the undecideds aren’t the biggest pessimists of all. Here they could order the airline chicken, but, then again, hmm. 'Isn’t that adding an extra step?' they ask themselves. 'If it’s all going to be chewed up and swallowed, why not cut to the chase, and go with the platter of shit?'

"Ah, though, that’s where the broken glass comes in. "

4 comments:

Bunny said...

David Sedaris is my hero (at least since he quit smoking) :)

Mark in DE said...

I heart David Sedaris.

Mark :-)

Anonymous said...

I love David Sedaris, but in this case he is making the same error as others who take easy shots at we "undecideds," mistaking thinking about the election (which, by definition, undecideds are still doing) with not thinking about it (which decided voters need to do less of, having already made up their minds). Anyone interested in what a real, live undecided voter is thinking about can visit a blog I created (www.undecidedman.com) and see if there is still more to talk about than chicken vs. sh*t sandwiches.

cb said...

Well, let's hope everyone opts for the blackened chicken then.