Picturesque

Mexican culture seems pretty intent on the point and select method when it comes to making daily goal oriented decisions.  (This statement, by the way (by way of bloggy disclaim), is intended entirely as an observation based on legitimate...observation (by afore-alluded-to blogger)).  Which brings me to Mexico City's subway system.  The subway is accessible to all of Mexico City's approximately 21 million residents.  That's a lot of people.  The system works really well, although, in mostly typical subway style, it is hot and dirty and crowded, but it's easy to use, and part of that ease is a result of the pick your proper subway line pictures that are affiliated with the assorted lines.  Since the city also has a huge illiterate contingent, the pictures are the obvious way to know which way to go.  It works.  You don't have to read.  You follow the picture.  (This is also a huge bonus when you're a visitor and maybe your Spanish isn't exactly subway sufficient.)  In fact, NPR reported several years back, that the government was trying to increase the literacy rate in Mexico City by passing out short stories and novella-types on the subway to passengers that they could read while riding.

Similar to the pictures in the subway, there are a good many restaurants (mostly of Mexican or Asian fare) that employ pictures on their menus with the explicit objective being the point and select method.  This works if you don't know what "lacto ovo" is; you look at the picture, and depending on how it strikes your stomach's fancy, you point and select.  Or, if you just can't read, you point and select and say the number affiliated with the preferred pic.  Makes sense.

What does not make sense are menus that include pictures of the food that have names that integrate a creature, like the "dragon roll" or "caterpillar roll" that I encountered on a recent, albeit tasty, sushi outing.  Whether I can read "dragon" or "caterpillar", the fact remains, and I can't be alone on this one, I don't want my food to have a face and eyes and antennas.  I got no problem riding the "caterpillar line" to get to the taco stand, but I got a big problem with receiving a pseudo-(and pseudo is worse than real-o because pseudo is really smiling) caterpillar on a plate for consumption.

Life sometimes can be picturesque.
Picturesque:–adjective

  strikingly graphic or vivid; creating detailed mental images