This blog is about nothing if not the little things that are important to me (and few other people). So, since this is my own private forum, I'll use it to shout out my grief for the loss of the Big Bacon Classic at Wendy's.
       How can they get rid of the Big Bacon Classic, you ask? It's easy. There was only room for one supreme bacon cheeseburger and they opted for The Baconator. How could they do this? Where the Big Bacon Classic was, as the name implied, a classic bacon cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato, and onion on a kaiser roll, the Baconator is like the epitome of everything making Americans obese - two beef patties, multiple cheese slices, SIX slices of bacon, and not a vegetable in sight. Granted, health isn't foremost in my mind when I choose to walk into a Wendy's, but there's eating something that isn't all that good for you, and eating something that seems equivalent to poison. I find the idea that these sandwiches are interchangeable preposterous and a painful reminder that Dave Thomas isn't holding down the fort anymore. But this isn't about the Baconator, this is about the Big Bacon Classic, the burger I proclaimed as my favorite fast food burger for many years.
    My love for the Big Bacon Classic (heretofore referred to as the BBC, not to be confused with the television networks) started a long, long time ago (you know, the '80s.)  Actually, it started with the Big Classic. I think it was around 1986. I was a young kid and my dad was making a burger run to Wendy's. All the adults were getting the Big Classic. I was excited because I wanted one too. I'd been mesmerized by the commercials. I don't remember getting as excited about the sandwich as I did about the packaging. This was back in the days of styrofoam burger boxes, and in order to accommodate the large kaiser roll, the Big Classic was served in something that can only be described as a styrofoam dome. The commercials captivated me (see one here.) This was something new, something to be experienced. Finally, I had my chance. I told my dad I wanted what everyone else was having. "No," he said like I was a complete idiot for even trying. My heart was broken. Sweet Big Classic, you would never be mine.  I'm not sure if they took it off the menu or if I was too blinded by the Superbar to remember my unfulfilled burger desire, but I didn't revisit the issue until the early 90s. I believe that's when the Big Bacon Classic was introduced, and I took notice. By this time I was in my early teens and finally ready to make up for lost time. There was no styrofoam dome anymore, but it was no longer about that. Now it was the principle of the thing. It was actually at this point that I rediscovered a love for burgers that McDonald's had killed long ago with its "food". Wendy's became my favorite place. As a growing girl with an insatiable appetite, the BBC was my favorite thing to order, usually Biggie-sized. It was great not to finish a meal and still be hungry. There was actually a point in my life where it wasn't unheard of for me to eat Wendy's for lunch and dinner. I'll probably pay for those days in a few years... But, in more recent times, Wendy's has become a much more rare excursion, and even though I always expected the BBC to taste good, with the first bite I was reminded that it was always going to taste better than my mind could remember. It was the perfect fast food burger, and now it's gone.
     I've heard there's been an online insurgence to get the BBC back. I hope it's true, and I hope it proves to be successful. In an era where all the fast food restaurants are trying to position themselves as either extremely health-conscious or the place to indulge your most gluttonous tendencies, there are still some of us who just want a decent bacon cheeseburger. For here or to go.