Why Chicken is What We Need

Everyone knows that I like like beans. But less known is that I also like chicken. I had a strange and memorable encounter some years ago at the grocery store when I was in line to buy lunch from the take-out counter. I desired some roasted chicken and potato wedges. Ahead of me in line was a tall—maybe six-foot-two-or-three—slim man, probably in his late-20s or early-30s. He too desired chicken; a kindred spirit, he ordered the quarter-chicken with wedges. But the employee at the counter said that they were currently out of roasted chicken; it would be another twenty minutes before the next batch would be ready. The man looked disappointed—resigned even, to his unexpected, newfound, chicken-less fate. The employee at the counter must have felt this, too, so he proposed chicken fingers as a fine substitute. Apparently, the man didn't really want these, because he bobbed his head back-and-forth as he weighed and considered the pros and cons of fingers now versus quarters later. He looked like a contestant on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? as he faced the crucial choice: is this your final answer?

After a about a dozen head bobs, he suddenly became a man of agency and, in a snappy move, pointed his index finger at the employee and said, with beaming beneficence, "Sold!"

He then turned to me and said, "Chicken—it's what we need!"

I felt strangely good, like I was suddenly part of a fraternity and this man was the guru. He knew, without us ever having exchanged a single word—or before that, even a glance—that chicken was the one thing in my life that, on that particular day, at that particular time, and above all else...I too, did, indeed, need.