Late-Night Lesson

I learned a lesson between late last night and this morning: When you wake in the middle of the night and have a snack, don’t mix cultures while doing so. In my case, I ate a half-dozen pretzels (a Bavarian treat) immediately followed by a Medjool date (of Moroccan origin). This morning, my mouth tastes like a string of dust-covered camels stomping through the sweepings from the floor of a filthy bakery.

—Mitchell Hegman