Progressive Wednesday

The one thing Edison didn’t invent.

The hamburger. Ah, yes, the hamburger. This fattening distinctly American dish is causing a minor cultural earthquake in Connecticut, Wyoming, and Texas. All three states claim to be the one and only locale where the dish was thought up. I’m not saying hamburgers ain’t tasty treats, but I am going to say that I’m not sure if this is necessarily something to fight over. I’m not sure this is the best way to defend your state’s honor. I can understand Ohio and North Carolina fighting over the Wright brothers and airplanes, because, well, I guess I think flight body-slams, head-butts, and beats burgers bloody in a WWE steel cage match.

But according to this article and this article, CT and TX are throwing down over the birth of those artery-clogging sandwiches (for the record, I like mine with blue cheese):

A state legislator [in Texas] is embroiled in a burger battle with Louis’ Lunch of New Haven, Connecticut, over which state can claim to be the birthplace of the hamburger.

Louis’ Lunch, which opened in 1895, claims to have come up with the marvelous idea in 1900, when a hurried customer requested something he could eat on the run. [State] representative Betty Brown, however, has proposed a resolution in the Texas legislature declaring Athens, Texas, as rightful birthing ground, noting that Fletcher Davis sold burgers from a luncheonette there in the late 1800s.

The mayor of New Haven, having nothing better to do but answer questions about food, has said that Connecticut’s claim is documented in the Library of Congress. I’m not really sure what the Dewey decimal number is for meat products, but I’m gathering there is one. While Seymour, Wyoming, also has argued that it’s the hometown of la hamburguesa, it’s Texas that’s most “impressive” with this legislative effort.

Now, sure, while we suppose it’s possible that some college-aged road-trippers or someone with a big, bad RV might tool into that Texas town on a pilgrimage, we at Progressive Wednesday highly doubt happens often. We highly doubt most anyone with a job, family, hobby, or a developed palate has ever considered this conundrum.

So, this begs two questions:

1. Has this legislator lost her damned mind?! I’d think health care, poverty, public transportation, education, crime, and stratosphere-high energy prices are all more than worth the time it took to write this ridiculous resolution, let alone vote on the sucker. But sometimes I’m wrong. Of course, sometimes I’m right. We have an obligation to try and keep our representatives from wasting our precious votes and time. Inking letters to the editor is key. Voting smarter ranks right up there, too.
2. Can’t we all just to agree that this inaccurately named food is yummy in ye ole tummy, then slather it with ketchup and mustard, slap on a pickle, and munch to our heart’s discontent? We hope so.

Photo courtesy of this omnivore.