how to order from the Royale Gourmet Deli in the Bronx  (no pork edition)
José Olivarez

if you didn’t know about bodega cats or the ocky way before social media had the whole
country dreaming of beef bacon egg & cheese between two honey buns, then you should
refrain from using those words. i don’t mean don’t use them in a bodega, I mean don’t
use them at all.

if it’s a weekday morning, have your order memorized. find your spot in line. this is
important. everyone is going somewhere. no one has time to wait while you ummm and
haw and ask the cashier for recommendations like there’s not a train about to leave fifty
feet away and questions about when the next one will arrive.

order your coffee with 2 creams and 3 sugars if you want to blend in. papi, i have bad
news. no one cares how well you speak Spanish. you can’t blend in. the building you
live in is so new, it’s still wearing diapers. you can’t quote Biggie to get out of this one.
the green juice in the fridge is just for you. go ahead and grab it when you skip breakfast
because you woke up late after coming home from your second job and pulling a third
shift trying to write your poems. the store is already judging you.

say hello and thank you. Be polite, but don’t take long. stay out of the way. remember:
everyone is hustling.

some of your neighbors will tell you after a decade in the city, you can call yourself a
new yorker. you’ll want to say no thanks. tattoo your hometown to your chest.
understand: rejecting the city doesn’t make you special. round the way from your fancy
new building, they’re trying to name the neighborhood “the piano district.” they want a
whole lot more of you to come to the Bronx. you don’t want to be one of them, but you
are.

you are. so the least you can do is say thank you. nod at your neighbors. move your
feet at the bodega.