In the early 20th century, the majority of the condiments we know and love--including ketchup, mustard, and mayonnaise--were imported from a large, now wildly popular, manufacturer in England. In 1912, this condiment manufacturer took advantage of the publicity surrounding the maiden voyage of a luxury cruise liner (that we all now hold responsible for robbing Leonardo DiCaprio of an Oscar 20 years ago), by utilizing said voyage to promote their brand and ship their largest-ever amount of cargo consisting of 5,000 containers each of ketchup and mustard, and 16,000 jars of mayonnaise to the U.S. and Mexico, the latter of which was to receive a little over 2/3 of the massive mayo shipment.
That shipment never arrived.
Shortly before midnight on the fourth day of this historic voyage, the cruise liner--the RMS Titanic, for those who missed my earlier tongue-in-cheek reference--hit an iceberg about 375 miles south of Newfoundland. On the morning of the fifth day, she sank. Rose broke her promise to "never let go," 1,503 people perished, and 26,000 condiment containers, including 10,700 jars of Mexico's long-awaited mayo plunged to the bottom of the ocean.
Which brings us to Mexico's day of remembrance for the tragedy now referred to as...
Wait for it...
Sinko de Mayo.
¡Olé!
Obviously (at least, I hope it's now obvious), most of what I just said is pure rubbish
[1]. In all seriousness,
Things fans, happy Cindo de Mayo! For those not familiar with the history of this holiday, it's actually to honor the day Mexico's army defeated the French at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. Today, Cinco de Mayo is also largely associated with celebrating the richness of Mexican-American culture, which is why folks of various nationalities now take to the streets to pound chimichangas, toast Saint Tequila, and don sombreros.
How am I celebrating? For one, I'm preventing the sinking of my mayo by using my handy
Condiment Gun. Though, I'm using one of the cartridges for sour cream, because nobody should shoot mayo on a taco. I'm also going to christen my new
STAR WARS shot glasses with someThing strong enough to create a disturbance int The Force, because why not also celebrate
STAR WARS Day
[2] at the same time?
¡Salud!
Bobby
1. EveryThing except the fact that the Titanic actually hit an iceberg, sank, and took 1,503 people with her. And that Leo was robbed. Why he had to get attacked by a bear before the Academy recognized his talent is beyond me.
2. Again. Because if you don't celebrate STAR WARS Day on May 4th like a good little Padawan, St. Yoda takes away your light saber.
