People Are Losing Their Minds Over A Photo Of Bagels Sliced Like Bread
A photo of bagels is making people mashugana.
On Monday, Twitter user Alek Krautmann innocently posted a photo of a “St. Louis secret” — which, apparently, is that people in the midwestern city like to eat their bagels sliced like bread.
Today I introduced my coworkers to the St Louis secret of ordering bagels bread sliced. It was a hit! pic.twitter.com/XNGbljtpYz
— Alek Krautmann (@AlekKrautmann) March 26, 2019
Many people on Twitter thought the idea was half-baked.
you should be ashamed of yourself
— Blake News (@blakehounshell) March 27, 2019
Were you immediately fired?
— Hi, it’s your friend Dan! (@TheDannyFresh) March 27, 2019
we're gonna need to have a chat pic.twitter.com/99MytojJtY
— Carter McHartface (@mickloud) March 27, 2019
Officer, I would like to report a crime. https://t.co/s4oFU1dNW7
— Dan Primack (@danprimack) March 27, 2019
I believe this is a Class A felony in New York City. And if its not, it should be. https://t.co/ngbbPFvnya
— Justin Brannan (@JustinBrannan) March 27, 2019
Bagel comes from the Old High German boug meaning "a ring." Please cut accordingly.https://t.co/vsZBhmpIIQ https://t.co/sgxXZIr9yU
— Dictionary.com (@Dictionarycom) March 27, 2019
I work in a bakery that makes bread & bagels every morning.... If someone asked me to "bread slice" bagels I'd refuse service. I have standards and a healthy respect for bagels.
— Str8OuttaSKAtland (@titty_tornado) March 27, 2019
1. If you didn’t buy them in New York City or New Jersey, those are not bagels.
2. I’m reporting you to my rabbi.— The Volatile Mermaid (@OhNoSheTwitnt) March 27, 2019
okay i live in St. louis and would like to clarify that we are not ALL sociopaths
— pony starwars (@tigersgoroooar) March 27, 2019
It even got the meme treatment.
It's my coworker's birthday! I served her cake St. Louis style: pic.twitter.com/oyalpoypzL
— Micah Gordon (@MicahJGordon) March 27, 2019
I've been enjoying St Louis New England Chowder for years... glad these bagels are catching everyone up to the right way to eat! pic.twitter.com/0rSqVUwaFH
— Clint Sears (@clintisawesome) March 27, 2019
Made some St Louis-style cereal for breakfast this morning! pic.twitter.com/vfR5CF8621
— J to the S (@JasonSterlacci) March 27, 2019
Some people, however, didn’t think it was such a crumb-y idea.
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This man is a genius. It solves both bagel problems: 1)weird puffiness 2)insufficient surface area. I'm changed. https://t.co/aczTitOK6R
— Sam Sanders (@DreamSong77) March 27, 2019
I’m brave enough to admit I’d fuck with ‘bread sliced’ bagels https://t.co/orffX4J1pT
— TJ Motley (@mottssauce) March 27, 2019
3) upright toaster access
— laurel (@laurelz) March 27, 2019
im just gonna say it
this is a good idea.
do not @ me or ill call the cops
they wont show up but my seriousbess will be illustrated https://t.co/xqHZtZ84iF— tracy the emotional support penguin (@brokeymcpoverty) March 27, 2019
Hey but as a diabetic I have been told to _never_ eat bagels but with a bread sliced one I could pick out a reasonable portion and keep my blood sugar down, And anyway I don't get why a big wodge of dough is so sacred!
— Lucy Kemnitzer (@lucykemnitzer) March 27, 2019
Everyone on my TL is so disgusted by this and it's warranted but consider all that incredible surface area for butter or cream cheese https://t.co/ub91n9jwTr
— jessica a. m. 🌼🌼🌼 (@my2k) March 27, 2019
For offices with lots of employees, bread sliced is great. Everyone can take what they want and not feel they’re wasting it.
For personal consumption? Definitely in half!— Katie🦋 (@AUTOMATIONxAIR) March 27, 2019
The bagels in the photo appear to be from Panera Bread, and the company seemed to have some sympathy for Krautmann.
Hey Alek, next time bagels are on us, sliced however you'd like. 😉 Can you DM us?
— Panera Bread (@panerabread) March 27, 2019
It also posted this question.
Our team is divided over here. Do other people slice their bagel Bread Co style? https://t.co/NbdZjj6G6C
— Panera Bread (@panerabread) March 27, 2019
The history of Panera Bread may shed some light on the subject. In 1989, the business that would become the Panera Bread Company acquired a local Missouri business called the St. Louis Bread Company, and in St. Louis, it seems that most Panera Bread locations have kept the name “St. Louis Bread Co.”
It’s unclear if every Panera Bread location would slice bagels that way, or if this is something that’s mostly done at St. Louis Bread Co.
HuffPost reached out to Panera for clarity but did not receive an immediate response.
Regardless, it seems like bread-sliced bagels have been “a thing” for quite a while.
Highlight of my day: woman who ordered 4 dozen bagels at our busiest time of day and wanted them ALL bread sliced. #callaheadbitch
— Jenna Brown (@TheeJennaB) November 13, 2010
But even if the idea seems appealing to some, the request appears to be a painful one for most Panera Bread employees.
As a Panera employee, this is the devils work. PLEASE for the love of God do not come in and order a dozen bagels and then ask us to bread slice all of them😩 https://t.co/JOfXptvCtE
— ❃ molly conlin ❃ (@molly_conlin) March 27, 2019
BuzzFeed reached out to a few former Panera Bread employees who worked in St. Louis, and Jenna Jones, 20, recounted a miserable Mother’s Day experience when a customer ordered 169 “bread-sliced” bagels.
“I think it was the worst day of my life and one girl had a mental breakdown when she was helping me,” Jones said.
So, it appears that any way you slice it, bread-sliced bagels aren’t the best idea.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost.