jimmy john's

date: september 8, 2005
bet: who gets the most strikes during another trip to lucky strike
stakes: lunch
winner: mason
loser: olive
destination: jimmy john's
cost: $12

mason: from labor day to memorial day each year, the office at which olive and i work celebrates summer hours, which means the office closes at 2pm every friday. to mourn the last of 2005's early dismissals/extended weekends, olive and i decided to meet some friends at one of our new favorite places, lucky strike lanes. because this was the last summer-hours friday of the year, our office closed even earlier than usual, and the fact that drinking commenced at around 1:30pm that day must have provided olive with some vodka-soda-induced confidence because she challenged me to a new, bowling-related, bet. the bet was who would get the most strikes during our time there and the stakes were, once again, lunch. we must remember, though, that at this point, olive had lost two bets in a row. losing a third would mean that she was 3/4 of the way toward becoming my chauffeur for a week. so not only was lunch at stake, but also olive's dignity.

not surprisingly (at least to me), i won the bet. we ended up bowling two games, and i believe i bowled five strikes in those two games, while olive bowled a mere two. feeling somewhat sorry for olive, not only because of her slow and steady decline toward a week-long career in vehicular servantry, but also because she was in a car accident a couple days prior to the lunch and was having a hard time walking, i agreed to have the bet settled at jimmy john's, which is located quite close to our office and quite appropriately, right on the other side of lucky strike lanes. of the big four build-your-own-sandwich eateries in chicago (the other three being potbelly, quizno's and subway), i rank jimmy john's #2 behind potbelly. perhaps more importantly, however, i rank their whole pickles #1 by a landslide. i am an admitted pickle addict. maybe i have some sort of salt deficiency, but i can't get enough dillified cucumbers to save my life. jimmy john's pickles are so perfectly pickled that they make you want to save one of the four spears you receive so you can show your friends. the sandwiches are good too, especially the bread, but they don't look anything like the one pictured below (advertisements are misleading bastards). regardless, jj's is always good for a quick, healthy and affordable lunch, and their pickles will brighten your day.

olive: i am quite a fan of jimmy john's. it ranks number one in my build-your-own-sandwich eatery book and their bread is, hands down, the best. on this lunch date, i ordered the #4, aka "turkey tom." it comes with turkey, tomatoes (extra tomats for me, please), lettuce, sprouts and mayo. i also tested mason's pickle, and agree about its deliciousness. though i am not at all addicted to pickles like he is. salt deficiency indeed. he should probably wear a salt lick around his neck.

had i been in the mood, i would have gotten some of their extra crunchy salt and vinegar chips to accompany my sandwich. but i was not and so i didn't.

anyway, mason had three of four bets under his belt and, while he was getting cocky, i was getting nervous. in order for me to make or take the next bet, it would have to be one that mason would undoubtedly lose, but clever enough that mason would willingly agree to. and until our next post, i will leave you to imagine what the next bet could possibly be...

hint: it's good.