Subway Sandwich Artists Totally Sold Out.

We first started getting Subway franchises in my area in the mid-early 90's. Back then young hipsters hell bent on giving it to the corporate deli machine manned the deli counters. These emboldened sandwich artist's did it for the love of deli art, not for the money. Back then they cut the top out of the hoagie making a military like tri-fold cap for the sandwiches. They didn't answer to the corporate machine and gave extra meat at will, for the beauty of the sandwich . It was art, it was their creation that they sent out into the world and they weren't going to charge an extra $ 1.75 for that type of beauty. Like the Soup Nazi of Seinfeld fame, they took pride in their artwork and weren't willing to be overly flexible with their add-ons and varieties. Going into a Subway shop back then, in the good old days, meant you were only going to get a choice of white or wheat breads, and you were O.K. with that fact. You also knew you placed your order on the left, then followed your artist down the sneeze guard to the right watching this roast beef or meatball flailing Jackson Pollock create magic on his doughy palate. Black olives, extra pickles, mayo, oregano and salt and pepper went flailing underneath the tri-fold cap forming an abstract lunch appealing to the eye and the stomach. After he finished, this financially starving artist would only up-sell to the combo if his manager was on duty and in within earshot. Almost apologetically he'd ask if you want to make it a combo meal, and willing to trade extra punches in your card for a tip. Just another way to give it to the Subway man.

But now-a-days you walk into a Subway restaurant and you have a multitude of bread choices. The white and wheat have been lost in a sea of harvest hearth leaven breads that would make the Artists I grew up with sick with Selling Out Ness. They would also be appalled when this hack calling himself an artist cuts the bread in half and starts filling the sandwich with pre-weighed meats because it cuts the cost in half. The artist is no longer trusted with his discretion but he has sold out into mass producing pop-art deli sandwiches. The Subway Sandwich artist's of my day would argue that how cost effective can the meat trays be, when corporate has to pay an extra fee for the meat tray's anyways. He would be outraged by the fact that there actually is a Vegetable sub on the menu and it get's ordered. He had the fortitude to tell a Yuppy customer that "If they wanted a vegetable sandwich, they should goto a salad bar and use the bread there." He's better than that. Some may say that the efficiency is better for wait times, but a real Subway customer who's been there since the beginning knew, good things came to those who waited.