I love Chicago, but sometimes I wonder about the people in it.
Example: Putting ketchup on a hot dog is considered sacrelige here.
When I was at the White Sox game last week, I got 2 hot dogs and a bag of chips, and asked where the “Ketchup and stuff” was. The woman gave me a weird look and said, “Uh, the mustard and relish are over there.” There was ketchup, but it went unmentioned.
Expounding on this phenomenon is Mark Brown of the Chicago Sun-Times, who has gone so far as to instruct his kids to never put ketchup on a hot dog, even when not in his presence.
And there really is no explanation for it, other than tradition. Mike and Bryen were in at work today. Mike is a native Chicagoan, and Bryen is from Michigan. Bryen took my side in the “What the fuck?” camp, and we tried to get an explanation out of Mike.
“Because you just don’t do it!” was the best Mike could come up with.
If anyone can explain this to me, please, email me and let me know.