A story about Taco Bell and suburban youth.
Art by Pete Whitehead
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Story created & performed by: Aaron Calafato
Audio Production: Ken Wendt
Original Art: Pete Whitehead
Podcast Coordinator: Cori Birce
Creative Consultant: Anthony Vorndran
TRANSCRIPT
[00:00:34.870] –
Aaron Calafato Story
I want you to listen to something for one second. (sound of wrapper and crunching) Oh.. Do you hear that? I wish you could taste this, the meat, the cheese, the lettuce, the warm crunchy shell. And the lettuce and the cheese are chilled, very cold, and the meat is piping hot. And you got to be careful because there'll be a little renegade piece of meat or a renegade piece of cheese that jumps off the shell. But don't worry, because you can use the wrapper to catch it. It's like another utensil, and you just take those little morsels and you eat them, put the wrapper to your lips, just finish them off until nothing is left, and then you move on to the next. This is a transformational experience. But why? Like why is it that biting into a taco from TBEL or Taco Bell? Has such meaning for me? It's got to be deep rooted.
[00:01:40.320]
I mean, the reality is, as far back as I can remember, Taco Bell has been a part of my life. In my sleepy little town growing up. If you were in junior high or high school, specifically, and you wanted to do something past 8:00 p.m. or 9:00 p.m. and you didn't want to do it at your house or someone else's house and you wanted just to go out, there were very few options. I mean, the town would just shut down very early.
[00:02:04.350]
But one of those few options was TBELL. And I remember driving up in my little broken-down minivan looking up at the neon sign, and it was like a gateway to hope. I want you to picture this. I'm in high school and I'm starving. And in this little restaurant is food. Not only that is tasty, but that I can afford and eat a lot of. And on top of that, inside this little restaurant are my best friends. And we're going to be talking and having the best conversations and the best time until like 2:00 a.m. in the morning until they kick us out of there.
[00:02:42.120]
What could be better than that? I'm thinking right now about some of the times that we had. I'm thinking about just laughing so hard and rolling out of our seats, literally. And then we would shift tone. We would have deep philosophical conversations. That's how my buddies and I were. And we would talk about morality and we would think about our lives and the world and how we wanted to change the world for the better. And you'd just be sitting around looking at each other, and I can see their faces right now, and we'd be looking out metaphorically at our futures and thinking about what was ahead.
[00:03:18.940]
And I still talk with a lot of these guys to this day. It's not the same. We are in that future, you know, we do have lives and careers and kids, and I guess what I'm referring to is that moment. That moment that's been crystallized in our youth. You know, the impressionist painters had that little cafe in Paris. Well, this is what my buddies and I had. It wasn't much, but it's it's what we got.
[00:03:52.800]
And at this very moment of deep introspection, I hear this sound (ding dong) and the doors open and there's this group of females that walk in. And my friends recognize them. They recognize us. We're making eyes at them. They're making eyes at us. They're laughing and joking. They're there for the same reason we are. And they sit down across the way from us. And I see a girl that I have a crush on. And let me tell you, the stage was set, electricity was in the air.
[00:04:19.500]
But before I could muster up the courage to go over and say something to her, I glanced over and I realized I had other pressing matters. You see, my tray was empty. There was just like crumpled up wrappers and I was out of food and I was still hungry and I had some extra money in my pocket. So, I had to get my priorities straight and I had to go to the counter and I had to order seconds. Now, I don't know what you're going to order is, but here's mine:
[00:04:48.360]
Unfortunately, one of the items has been taken off the menu. That's OK. That's here nor there. But here is the classic order. How can I help you? I'm glad you asked.... Can I have a Mexican Pizza? Can I have three crunchy hard shell Taco Supreme's with extra sour cream. And then can I have a chili cheese burrito? Can I get an order of cinnamon twists and then a cup for the soda fountain. I get the cup and within seconds a tray slides across the counter.
[00:05:17.970]
Each item perfectly wrapped. The wrappers with such color, it just hits the eye beautifully. And I take my tray over my cup over to the soda fountain. And I'm not just getting one flavor of soda. I'm going suicide here. I'm going all the flavors. I'm creating a concoction like an artist and taking it back to my table and diving in once again. Now, that's a portrait of my suburban youth, but it's not the only memory that gets triggered.
[00:05:44.970]
I know who started this whole thing. It was my grandfather and I was six years old. That's how far back this goes. I played City League Soccer. I was a great goal scorer and he was my biggest fan. He would come down and watch me every Saturday and he'd be cheering on the sidelines "Go Aaron! Go score!" And he was always pushing me to do better.
[00:06:04.020]
And I remember one Saturday before a game, he said, "I will get you a taco for every goal that you score." I didn't need to hear anything else. I knew what was at stake. And that game, I scored 13 goals. 13 goals!
[00:06:20.160]
And afterwards I didn't even say anything. I just ran up to him and he said, let's go. And we go to the Taco Bell and he gets me those 13 tacos and they come sliding across the counter, beautifully wrapped, the noon sunlight coming in through the window and just reflecting off of the beautiful wrapping paper. And we go to a little table, you know, those small ones. And it was just me and him, a two seater sitting across from each other.
[00:06:44.100]
And I'm just crushing these tacos. And for a moment in between bites, I look up and I just see my grandfather looking down at me and smiling. And I didn't know at that moment that I would carry that memory with me for the rest of my life and many, many years after he's passed away. It's still with me. And I'd like to think if Norman Rockwell were still alive..I'd like to think, even though it's a fast food chain, that image, of me and my grandfather together at that Taco Bell. I'd like to think that's something he'd want to paint.
