I’ve done it.
The odds were heavily stacked against me.
People said it was impossible, that I was wasting my time.
But I shrugged the “haters” off and used their negativity as motivation. Every morning I’d try, and fail, but return the next day with a new sense of optimism and determination. My father’s mantra looping in my head as I focused on the task at hand, “perseverance through adversity son, perseverance through adversity.”
This morning, on the fourth day of December, in the year of our Lord 2015, I finally succeeded in cooking two, not one but two, beautiful and completely intact over easy eggs.
Now, some of you may scoff at this feat.
You could be thinking, “My eight year old daughter can make over easy eggs, dude.”
You might even be laughing as you read this. But trust me, there’s nothing funny about preparing the perfect breakfast sandwich every morning, fully equipped with the finest of ingredients: freshly baked whole grain bread, organic tomatoes and spinach from the local market, a thick slice of gouda cheese and savory pieces of world-famous Spanish ham, Jamon Iberico. Only to fail miserably with the piece de resistance and pop the damn yolks in the crappy hostel frying pan.
No amount of olive oil or butter can make the pans in any hostel “non-stick.”
The pans are beat up and tired, any trace of Teflon scraped away long ago by the backpackers of yesteryear.
The deplorable condition of cooking surfaces in hostels makes runny egg-yolks a much desired commodity. A mirage in the desert that can never be reached. But this morning I did it. When I bit into my sandwich the rich yolks exploded into my mouth and dripped onto my plate, like puddles of liquid gold.
A moment I shall never forget.
The lesson is simple friends: Never give up, never surrender.
Or… if you like over easy eggs and have the room in your backpack, bring a small non-stick frying pan.
The Gap 