The immigrant men who owned the popcorn
It’s surprising that I could only find one spot to
carts said that Marc had doubled the sales of
buy it: the children’s zoo in Central Park.
popcorn in his spot. He told me his secret. The
Elizabeth had to work both popcorn and ice-cream
secret was the smell. He would continuously make
carts, side by side. She eagerly showed me how she
popcorn with the foolproof system. Throw the
made popcorn the same way Marc did years before.
kernels and butter into a pan, flip a switch, and let
She often didn’t make another batch for an hour or
the machine pop it all perfectly. He filled some
more unless it was the weekend. On the weekends
bags, left the rest in the clear container, and after a
she made a new batch every twenty minutes.
short while he made more, even when he had
Every twenty minutes there was a fresh batch of
enough to sell. The scent would bring people over.
dreams to be sold. Popcorn seems to go with
People would line up to get a bag. I have to think
dreams and fantasies. It’s there to eat with movies.
that it wasn’t always the taste they were looking
It’s there for strolls in the park. It was part of
forward to, as much as it was what that taste
what brought me to New York City. We’re all
represented. Bad things don’t usually go with
searching for that feeling of being folded in. I
popcorn.
realized my affinity with popcorn was part of my
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search. I am simply looking for a home.
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3
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THE CONE - ISSUE #5 - SUMMER 2015