July 31, 2015

The great pepperoni roll war

A titanic albeit brief nonviolent war for social justice was concluded yesterday. At issue was a product sacred to many West Virginians, especially up north, to wit pepperoni rolls. For the uninitiated, pepperoni rolls in the Mountain State are something like what maple syrup is to Vermonters or what ambrosia is to Greek gods.

They are pretty  much what they sound like, i.e. rolls with pepperoni in them. Some may not be anything to write home about but when they are good they are really good.

At issue in this epic struggle was the decision announced earlier this week by Sheetz, a gas/convenience store/fast food chain that has significantly expanded into WV, that it would no longer purchase pepperoni rolls from here. Instead, they were to come from Pennsylvania.

Nothing against the Keystone State, but some folks pointed out that pepperoni rolls from PA would be like pirogis from WV, an inversion of the laws of nature, decency and propriety.

Anyhow, after a firestorm of tweets and howls from outraged West Virginians, to which I contributed my share, Sheetz announced it would continue to source the product from here.

The moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends toward pepperoni rolls.

You can read more here and here.

2 comments:

Stephanie said...

One day we will look back on this day as a turning point in history.
If WV Pepperoni Roll Day becomes declared as July 30 at some point down the line I want it down in the record that I totally called that.

El Cabrero said...

Future calendars may even refer to 2015 as Year Zero.