Dumpling Luck

Nothing Can Turn Your Day Around Faster Than Momos

Are you hungry yet?

I had forgotten to mention one final curious road story that involved dumplings from last week’s last minute cross-central-NY trip, and any story that involves dumplings is a story worth telling.

When I was a young man, I could blast through road trips in the car easily, me and my buddies driving for hours and hours at a time, music cranked up, cooler snacks at the ready.

These days? Well, let’s say my back and my bladder are slightly more finicky then they used to be. I’ve grown accustomed to making sure I’m aware of many of the easy ons / easy offs along any given highway. Bathroom break. Quick stretch. You know how it goes.

So it came to be that I pulled into a McDonald’s just off the highway near Utica, NY. Bathroom pit-stop, wash hands, out and… in the few moments I was there it seemed like every ambulance and police car in the area was up onto the exit ramp I had just come down off. The ramp was blocked. The traffic was piling up around the McDonald’s. Sirens. Chaos. I was in there for five minutes.

Someplace just ahead of where I got off the highway, there was a pile up. Either my needing to go to the bathroom put me behind. Or, it saved me. Later, my friend Jennifer would helpfully remind me of a third option - I could have been stuck IN traffic on the highway needing to GO to the bathroom. That would have been bad.

Anyway, faced with sudden traffic and so early in the situation that no detours were yet set up, I made the choice to drive deeper into the city rather than closer to the highway. I figured if I drove away enough, I’d eventually turn on GPS and find a way to continue on my way toward the next exit perhaps.

That’s when I suddenly found myself driving right past one of my favorite grocery stores, the one with the dumplings. Faced with the option of wandering around and finding a path back to the highway or stopping for a plate of spicy chili momos and a can of Thumbs Up Cola, there was really no option.

Turns out the pile up wasn’t that serious either, so I felt better about feeling fine with the delay. Some days (I’d argue most days) life is going to push you in an unexpected direction. As long as you have a plate of dumplings waiting for you, you’ll be fine!