At Montero's, hard by the Brooklyn docks, a regular sits at the bar.  "You made your own Slim Jim?" he says, as if he has heard this one already too.  When I ask if he'd try one and tell me if it tastes like the Slim Jims of old, he wrinkles up his face and says, "Why not?"

He chews for a moment, then shrugs. "Sure," he says.  "You made a Slim Jim.  Good for you."

Manny Howard, A Tricky Stick, New York Times Magazine.