God Hates Omelets

God hates Omelets

OK, I got my first taste of true religious fundamentalism yesterday. Well I say “first taste”, what I mean is first taste outside of Utah. I was at breakfast in my hotel in Budapest this morning and there was a large tour group from the Middle East. One of the ladies got up and went to a chef that was cooking omelets and ordered a vegi. omelet. One of her friends immediately stood up and began questioning her decision. While the chef was cooking the omelet a little debate ensued. Soon there were several people standing up and joining the debate and everyone was pointing at the bowls holding the omelet fixings. It became obvious that there was some question as to whether or not the spoon used to put the peppers in the omelet had been used at a previous time to put ham (pork) in a previous omelet. You know kind of like in Utah where you have to throw away 3 day old homemade rootbeer just in case it might start to ferment.

The chef was explaining with hand gestures, as he was Hungarian and the Patrons were Arab, that he had been using separate spoons. The finger pointing, hand gestures and argument went on for a few minutes. By now the omelet was ready and the chef was ready to slide it onto a plate. At this point an older gray haired Arab in full religious or cultural regalia, I’m not sure which, slowly stood up from his table. This guy was obviously the patriarch of the group, possibly the high priest group leader. He walked over to omelet bar, grabbed the pan from the chef and slid the omelet into the garbage can. He then started jabbing his finger at the pan and screaming at everyone as if they were stupid. He was obviously explaining that the pan itself had been contaminated with pork and no one was going to eat any omelets. End of Story, the oracle has spoken! He slammed the pan down on the table and without a word everyone quietly moved to their tables and sat down. As soon as everyone was seated the Oracle sauntered to his table, flipped his apron behind him as if he were a concert pianist and sat down. The entire group immediately continued with their breakfast as if nothing had happened. The poor chef stood there in wonderment and no one, including me dared to order another omelet. Damn I really wanted one.