A dying Warren Zevon on Letterman taught me to notice every sandwich
Enjoy Every Sandwich
Warren Zevon appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman in October 2002, knowing he was dying of terminal cancer. Their conversation about life, death, music, and family has stayed with the author for years. Zevon's advice to 'enjoy every sandwich' took on new meaning when the author, stuck in an airport with a soggy, overpriced sandwich, realized the point might not be to enjoy every sandwich—some are just trash—but simply to notice you're eating one.
The goal might not be to exactly enjoy every sandwich. Some sandwiches are just straight up trash. Maybe the goal is to notice that you're eating one.
- delichon
I was seven years old in 1969 during the moon landing, with the whole extended family gathered around the enormous TV console. It was a very memorable event for me, but the thing I most remember is that mom made me and my friend a simple BLT with mayo. For some reason it was like a visitation from Jesus for both of us. We spent the next few years making them or begging for them relentlessly. We thought it was our own thing. Over the next fifty years I've tried to recapture that, but never entirely succeeded in reaching the same culinary apogee. Still trying. Every BLT comes with free a flashback to that hot July day. And a remembrance of that best of friends who we lost twelve years ago.
- jmathai
This hits me like a brick wall with my young children. Seeing them change so rapidly is a glimpse into how short life is and how often an experience unknowingly becomes the last of its kind.
There is so much to be gained by slowing down, focusing on what you can be grateful for, and not striving for more.
- nxc18
I’ve been getting into photography recently. I enjoy capturing the beauty of light in everyday moments - you’d think I’d run out of things but after years in the same place, breathtaking moments are a daily occurrence (if I am looking).
On one of my walks, I had the realization that if I were blind and suddenly re-gained my vision, I would be overwhelmed with joy and gratitude to be able to see these things. And yet it is not natural for the sighted to feel overwhelmed with joy and gratitude every time they open their eyes.
I try to practice gratitude daily; at first it was difficult to come up with things, but my perspective has since broadened. I am deeply grateful that I can see the way light filters through haze in late September. I can hear beautiful music (an unlimited supply, of anything I want, at any time!). I can run (to think, I used to consider this a burden!). I could go on listing things for hours.
You can experience joy in the good things in your life before the loss. Enjoy every sandwich - even the soggy ones.
- higgins
Top 10, unranked:
- Raging Bull or Brian Allen from Star Meats in Berkeley, CA
- Shaking Beef, Dinosaur Sandwiches in San Francisco / Daily City, CA
- Turkey Cranberry from the GBC in Berkeley, CA
- Lemongrass tofu from Lokal Sandwiches in Los Angeles, CA
- Pastrami on rye from Sarges Deli in NYC, NY
- Fried Chicken Sandwich from Bakesale Betty's in Berkeley, CA
- Dad's BLT or fried egg sandwiches
- Any sandwich from Mom paired with potato salad
- Wife's Cemita
- Turkey sandwich from "The Sandwich Shop", Dogpatch in San Francisco, CA
- gwbas1c
When my mom's cancer came to a head and she passed, it was very, very fast. She didn't even internalize it until she became bedridden and had to admit that she couldn't do stairs or stand to brush her teeth.
Our last phone conversation started with her telling me that she had a month left to live, and then she mentioned that she offered to watch my nephew for a family event in a month because she wouldn't be able to go. A few days after the call I arrived to telecommute from her house, only to not leave because her digestive system stopped working. It still took her a day to admit to herself that she was truly dying.
- juancn
Here's the full interview referred in the article in case you're interested:
- randusername
This is one of my favorite quotes and I'm glad to see it discussed here.
My favorite interpretation is focusing on the beauty of how even such a mundane thing as a sandwich is a unique experience. Someone made it by-hand, the ingredients have their own backstory in arriving in the present moment, and the taste is greater than the sum of its parts because of all the competing and complementary flavors.
Sandwiches hide in plain sight and even when they aren't great they are unique and will underscore how good your next great one is.
- jleyank
I've written it elsewhere but I'm going to write it again. Somehow, work to enjoy today as well as to save for tomorrow. If you wait for things, you might not be able to physically able to do what you want to do, or the people you want to do it with might not be there. If you don't save you might not have the resources.
Enjoy every sandwich is a nice, mildly flippant way of saying that one should enjoy every moment. You only get so many and you don't know how many that is. Jackson Browne's For A Dancer also addresses this.
And in the end, it's never enough.