SPAM and David Simon

Trust me. There is no relation with these two but they were involved in my day.

My news editing class ended on an early note {thanks nancy!} so that the Wire fiends and fans could listen to the creator David Simon speak in the lecture room. I only wish I was on David’s team {I love him more}. Actually, I am because I believe in a lot of things he used to believe in as a reporter back in the day and in the things he sees in journalism today.

You know what? I’m not going to spend a lot of time dwelling on how much I love him and how he would be at my heavenly – only because a few at the table have gone to Glory – dinner table along with Peter Jennings (R.I.P.), Ed Bradley (R.I.P.), Oprah Winfrey, Claude Brown, Jill Scott, Stephen A. Smith, and a few select friends. J HOWEVER I will send you to a couple of links. One published in Esquire and one in The New Yorker and one in The Atlantic. And I’m going to also HIGHLY recommend that you watch The Wire, seasons 1 thru 5. You won’t regret it. Trust me, I’m a journalist. J

Oh, and I will tell you that if you’re reading this and know me personally and wonder what would make my heart happy? Uh. … the COMPLETE box set J Ah, yes. … the key to my heart J

Thankfully I made my train home only to be annoyed by the lack of compassion from other metro north commuters. Everyone wants a seat for themselves after a morning of squeezing and sharing seats. I can’t blame them.

So, I’m thumbing thru the current issue of Columbia Journalism Review and came across this ad or PSA or whatever from Hormel Foods:

Do you know the difference between spam and SPAM®? One annoying. One is delicious.

Wait. … excuse me but delicious? I’m sorry. Let me continue:

One is the bane of the email users worldwide. One is enjoyed for breakfast, lunch, and dinner all around the globe. So Please take notice that SPAM® is no longer called “luncheon meat” and should always have capital letters and be followed by the ® symbol. And to avoid confusion due to the many different varieties of our favorite food, please refer to the entire product line as the SPAM® Family of Product. Let’s work together to keep this American tradition pure for future generations to come. How could we deprive them of such joy?

Who am I kidding? I was the kid in class with the SPAM sandwich and milk biscuit cookies – instead of OREOS – for lunch. Perhaps my mom thought it was Americana because she migrated from Haiti. … and want us to be American pie. Yeah, right. … Mommy thought dollars and cents. … and buying SPAM made sense. I hated it. And I hated the ham sandwiches in my lunch box.