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Dave Eggers' The Wild Things is available for preorder, in regular hardcover and
limited-edition fur-covered.

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I N T E R V I E W   W I T H
T H E   D R I V E R   O F
A   L U N C H   T R U C K ,
M A S S A C H U S E T T S   E D I T I O N .

BY MICHAEL GENRICH

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At 11:39 AM in the East Annex Parking Lot on the campus of MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, I interviewed Butch Harris, the very friendly proprietor of All-Right Catering/Jimmy Mac's Southern Pit BBQ, in his bright yellow truck with Massachusetts commercial plate G62-907.

GENRICH: I noticed you have two company names on the side of the truck.

HARRIS: Well, All-Right Catering is the master company. Jimmy Mac's is a trademark that goes back several years.

G: I thought it looked familiar.

H: We bought the trademark of Jimmy Mac's, so we're preserving the menu.

G: What do you have that's good today?

H: Oh, everything's good! Everything on the menu.

[Butch's menu lists items such as pulled pork platters, rice and bean plates, short rib samplers and sides of cornbread.]

G: What would you say is your most popular item?

H: People like the pork, but Jamaican jerk chicken would be the most popular.

G: Oh good, I was planning on getting the jerk chicken. Do you think the Patriots should fire Pete Carroll?

H: Beg your pardon?

G: Do you think the Patriots should fire Pete Carroll?

H: No, no, no. I really don't care.

G: What do you think of the fall foliage this year?

H: I've seen a little bit of it, but not enough to make a conclusion. I usually get further up, but I've been very busy. I haven't had time to go out and really look around.

G: Could I get the one-quarter jerk chicken plate?

H: Sure thing.

[ Visit Butch at 278 Pearl Street in Malden, Massachusetts. Phone Butch at (781) 388-9398. Surf with Butch at http://www.bb-q.com]

On my way back to my office, I walked past a Boc Gases delivery truck. The driver was in the back of the truck, organizing large canisters. This presented the perfect opportunity for an

INTERVIEW WITH THE DRIVER OF
A CHEMICAL SUPPLY DELIVERY TRUCK

GENRICH: Hey! What do you have that's good today?

DRIVER: What?

G: What are you delivering today?

D: Nitrogen.

G: That's all liquid nitrogen, right?

D: Right.

G: Anything else in there?

D: Look, I'm really busy.

On the elevator ride up to my office, I noticed that I was sharing the car with Pattie Maes, professor at the MIT Media Lab and founder of Firefly. I would have been foolish if I had not jumped at the chance for an

INTERVIEW WITH MIT PROFESSOR PATTIE MAES

GENRICH: I'll never finish all this. Do you want my cornbread?

MAES: No, thanks.

 

 

OTHER McSWEENEY'S STORIES:
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Some Things for Today By Mike Topp
Above & Beyond By Jason Wilson
The Newest From Jokeland By R.J. White
Jedediah in Love By Todd Pruzan
The Subcomandante Rides at Dawn, Episode Five By Neal Pollack
The Subcomandante Rides at Dawn, Episode Four By Neal Pollack

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