Hot Dogs for Obama

For those of you non-New Yorkers out there, a quick explanation: Gray's Papaya is a chain of hot dog storefronts. I think their hot dogs were fifty cents when I first moved to the city. I haven't bought a hot dog from Gray's Papaya for a long time, so I don't know what they charge now.

Gray's Papaya will occasionally put up signs in their windows. In the late 90s New York City in general (and Giuliani in particular) was pushing this "Be kind to tourists" campaign. And Gray's Papaya had giant signs in their windows that said something about supporting Giuliani and his campaign of kindness.

This campaign never really made any sense to me. I mean, I've actually always found the people of our fair city to be quite generous and kind. Guarded at times, sure. Occasionally cold or rude, perhaps. Volatile, certainly.

But when push comes to shove -- a couple of blackouts, subway incidents, various crises (including 9/11 of course) -- we've got each other, and we're there for each other. And I've found real comfort in that.

So Gray's Papaya has found another campaign to support with its signage:


That's a real hot dog in the eye of the Junior Senator from New York.

And just as a quick aside, I can't recommend enough watching or reading Barack Obama's speech today on race in America. Summaries, reports, and clips of it aren't good enough. Read or watch it in its entirety. Because I didn't want anyone to know that I was taking a break from my job responsibilities, I faked a coughing fit when I got to the end to hide the tears forming in my eyes.

That's right: I'm an emotional coward, B&E readers.