The first "subway" experience

As a person fresh in USA, remember the first time you had to go to Subwayand order the sandwich. The time when you came to know that sandwiches come in forms which are different than two breads on top of each other with omellete in between them. The number of excruciating choices that you had in front of you and the turmoil of communicating those choices to the sandwich maker on other side in your very desi accent. I am talking about the phase in your american life when we still couldn't figure out the difference between 't' and 'd'. If you still haven't been, its "teehhhh" and "deeeee". It has worked for me so far. My full name used to be "Anand Srivasdava" before I learned this nuance. This point is important because if you don't pay attention, tomato is heard as "domado" and lettuce becomes leddus or laytoos when it should be lechusss. Sure way to get stuck at the first step of your veggie selection. For sometime, I didn't try lettuce or any other phonetically controversial items. Kyu-Kyu-mmm-ber comes to mind. It used to be coocoo-m-ber for me. (By the way, if kheera is cucumber then what is the english of kakkdee. Anyone?)

Any ways, as you all know, this arduous charade of getting your sub starts from selection of kind of bread and ends with the question "any drinks or chips" to which the most standard desi reply is "can I have a glass for water please?". By the time its over, a sense of achievement dawns especially if you didn't have to repeat your choices and you didn't confuse alipino's with pickles and olives. One of my friends had found the easiest way out. Everything. He used to say "everything" and smile at me. The stud types smile which said "Easy does it". But I begged to differ with him. Subway is the gateway to the american food world. The "cornerstone" of american lunch. (ref: pulp fiction ). Its the school-yard where you learn to exercise your freedom and choices on the kind of food that you want to consume. Choosing the phonetically least troublesome option is like giving up on the sea of "gourmet" choices that americanfood industry provides. If you want to enjoy the God forsaken american food, you have to learn the ropes. I know there will be times when you will say "northwest" when you meant "southwest". But you are not being fair to the money you are spending if "sour-creame" is your choice everytime you are given a choice between "sour-creame" and "Guacamole". Seriously, english is a funny language. And subway experience teaches you a lot about the need to practice the age old axiom "When in Rome, do as the Romans do". After all, satisfaction of hunger is the most primal of needs.