with great power comes great responsibility

Last night I ventured out with Brita and Jeremy on a warm summer's night for a bite of pizza at a local parlor. Ready to shell out a few bucks for some supposed good food and company, we entered the establishment, only to be told by a waitress that everything was free. We only had to tip.

Could this be true?? Free pizza for no reason at all? And we just happened to come on the right day? A-maaaziiiing! We grabbed some pizza - pepperoni, chicken pesto, spicy chicken (it was all incredible) - and sat down to eat. Also, we had free soda and beer. Partway through the conversation, as we wondered aloud at how we had come across such great fortune, Brita exclaimed, It's because you're with us! That hadn't even occurred to me, but it almost gave me chills (ha). Could it be, that with my gift for unknowingly finding free food, I had brought this fate upon us??

Just another piece of evidence for my theory. I am a free food magnet; you should be my friend if for no other reason than this.

Anyway, the feel of free food in the city (or at least at Zella's), is different than in other places. It's not like you get a coupon and walk up to the counter in an orderly manor, and each person gets a limited amount (one offer per person, please, not to be combined with any others). Instead, they just kept baking different kinds of delicious pizza pies (one even had salad on it) and putting them up on the counter. You took what you wanted and sat down at a table, then got up when you were finished to try the next type of pizza they were offering. People were being friendly, conversation was everywhere, and the various types of people that inhabit West Baltimore were gathered in one place, brought together (at least in location) by the promise of a good meal with no strings attached.

This is the power of free food. I'm not even speaking in extremes. I really believe that free food, when offered in a genuine way holds incredible power. What could we do with that?