Life imitates art.

On our recent trip to North America I had the opportunity to (almost) act out a classic, and favorite, movie scene. We were on the road, and the time was right for a quickie meal. And that meant that even though we'd tasted, and enjoyed, just about every available cuisine, it was going to be McDonald's. But the possibilities for me at a place like that are quite limited, and I did want to eat something. In the end I decided on a hamburger with cheese added ... without the hamburger. Though my order went smoothly and only caused a limited amount of eyebrow raising, it was hard not to recall the scene from Bob Rafelson's Five Easy Pieces where the Jack Nicholson character tries to order toast, but is told that no side order of toast is available:

Dupea: OK, I'll make it as easy for you as I can. I'd like an omelette, plain, and a chicken salad sandwich on wheat toast, no mayonnaise, no butter, no lettuce. And a cup of coffee.
Waitress: A No. 2, chicken sal san, hold the butter, the lettuce and the mayonnaise. And a cup of coffee. Anything else?
Dupea: Yeah. Now all you have to do is hold the chicken, bring me the toast, give me a check for the chicken salad sandwich, and you haven't broken any rules.

Though he has a great line, the Nicholson character ultimately doesn't get the toast, or the meal at all. No rules were broken in preparing my order - and I got it. I was even charged the full price for my rather streamlined hamburger.

Go to: About that title, or
Go to: If you've already clicked this far ..., or
Go to: Not a chance!, or
Go to: But isn't that the whole point?, or
Go to: Where's the Beef?