MAGIC         PORK

Every year around St. Patrick’s Day I like to have a corned beef & cabbage dinner. Partly to get in the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day and partly because it’s hard to find that on the menu at restaurants any other time of the year. And I do like me some corned beef & cabbage. Mmmm.

But this year I decided to up & move to a new city just a couple of weeks prior to St. Patrick’s Day. I clearly should have planned this better because I suddenly found myself unsure of how to go about getting a corned beef & cabbage dinner. (Cooking a corned beef & cabbage dinner is out of the question for me.) Fortunately, I discovered that there are a couple of Irish pubs not far from me that serve corned beef & cabbage dinner all year long. And to put a strange, cruel twist on it - according to what I read, they don’t serve it on St. Patrick’s Day and instead just serve cold sandwiches in order to handle the massive crowds.

That doesn’t bother me though, as long as I can get my corned beef & cabbage whenever I want to the rest of the year.

Having decided upon that course of action, I put St. Patrick’s Day food concerns out of my mind. I was sitting here at my computer and suddenly out of nowhere I remembered: Shamrock Shake!! If McDonald’s had any wisdom they’d sell it all year - but they don’t - so it’s always a treat when this delicious green shake is available. And lucky me, there’s a McDonald’s located just a few blocks from me!

So I strolled down the street, walked into the McDonald’s, walked up to the counter, and… no one was behind the counter. So I waited, and while waiting looked around. Hmm, no signs for the Shamrock Shake. I’d think they’d advertise that. Began to get suspicious. Then someone came out from the kitchen and I asked if they had the Shamrock Shake. He kind of smiled and said no. Drat! So I said “that’s all I came for” and left.

I was disheartened, but then remembered that there’s another McDonald’s also within a few blocks of my apartment in another direction. Yes that’s right, I live near two McDonald’s. So I walked over to that one and there was a line of people. I got in line but looked over the menu and didn’t see any Shamrock Shake. I considered asking anyway, but decided instead to just take the hint and leave.

No Shamrock Shake. That’s just horrible. Last year, in Rochester, I bought a Shamrock Shake at a McDonald’s in April. Perhaps that means no one was buying it, which doesn’t exactly boost my case here. Nonetheless, for me it’s a point in the Rochester column. (Right after garbage plates of course.)

I just did a google search and came across this website. On it, people can report locations that don’t serve the Shamrock Shake. There’s also some video clips that are - well, stupid. But I can overlook that if they’re providing such a great resource to the world.