Al Naamah; I'm Plain

Last year, a man paid 5,000,000 guineas at a Tattersall's Yearling sale for a filly by the sire Galileo.  It was the highest price ever paid for an un-raced Thoroughbred - five million guineas is $8,450,925 American.  She was named Al Naamah, and yesterday she ran in her first race.  She ran in an open fillies and mares race, and she won.  She defeated the defending race winner by almost two lengths.  (And, yes, I do like Galileo's bloodlines very much!)

     I've always considered myself a plain person; I prefer extremely casual clothes, I don't like to draw attention to  myself, and I am neither a breath-taking beauty nor terribly ugly. I'm  just a short, round, older woman with glasses, freckles, and gray hair.  At one point in time, I did take pride in the fact that I won the North-Central Florida Star Trek Trivia Championship, but that was long ago - many series and movies ago, in fact.  I try to not have an accent - I can easily put on my Deep South drawl, or my Chincoteague Island Elizabethan accent - But I've recently been informed that my pronunciation of both Florida and hurricane give away my Southern upbringing.
   I also try to be plain spoken.  If I can't say something nice, I won't say anything; and I do my best not to be hurtful when speaking to others.  I admit that I tell a few "white lies" now again, about how things look or taste; I do that to avoid bad feelings.
   I am plain in my food eating habits, too.  I have several food allergies, and a lot of other foods cause great distress to my digestive system.  I rarely eat at other folks' homes because of my dietary limitations.  I usually cook my own food, and eat a lot of fresh vegetables and fruit.  I don't like the taste of, and my tummy objects to, almost all condiments - other than salt and pepper.  I eat my sandwiches plain - bread and meat only, or bread meat and cheese only, peanut butter and bread only, or a hamburger or hot dog on a bun with nothing else.  Plain. That's me.  I like green salads and fruit salads - but if they are topped with any type of garnish - dressing, vinaigrette oil, coconut, or candied nuts - I can't (or won't) eat it.  Plain.  Peanut butter. Chocolate. Separate, not together.  If I bite into something  that I know my tummy won't tolerate, I have a bad habit of spitting it out.  Plain person, plain food, plain cooking.
  What started this "Plain" thing was that I decided to eat at a a certain fast food chain; I hadn't eaten there in almost two years.  One can order a hamburger with one, two, or three meat patties at this establishment.  I went to the drive-through, and drove up to the order microphone.  My usual order is stated this way: "Hi!  I'd a plain hamburger - that's just the meat and the bun only; small fries, and …"  The person (male) at the order microphone said, "Hi! Can I take your order?" I responded, "Hello! Yes; I would like a double hamburger, absolutely plain-" I was cut off with the question, "You want a double cheese-burger, right?"  "No," I replied. "I want a double hamburger with-" Again I was cut off, "But you do want cheese, right?"  "No," I said again. "I would like-"
"Just start over from the beginning.  What do you want to order?"
"I want to order a double hamburger, absolutely plain.-"
"What do you want on it? Cheese, or what?"
"Absolutely PLAIN!"
"So you want two hamburger patties?"
"I want to get a hamburger on a bun, with two meat patties, and NOTHING ELSE. - Just the meat on the bun."
"Hey, you don't have to get mad..."
-"And, I'd like a small order of fries."
"Pull around to the window, and I'll give you your total."
   I drove up to the window.  The man with the head set on asked, "So, do you want a bun with those two pieces of meat?"
   I gritted my teeth and said, "Yes, please."
My total cost was $7.03.  I paid, received the burger and fries, and drove back to Tess's steaming.  After I ate, I called the restaurant and asked to speak with the manager.  It seems the nut-job working the window was the manager.  I apologized for my shortness; but then, I said, "You know, if you had let me finish the first sentence of my order, you wouldn't have had any questions."
  Thinking back on it, I'm not sure that he wouldn't.
But - I am a plain person.