What? A meatless corny dog? You’re kidding!

By Gene Hall

No, I guess they are not. The State Fair of Texas will serve meatless corny dogs for this first time at this year’s event.

A Fletcher’s corny dog at the State Fair of Texas is, for that brief moment in time, “Texas on a stick.” It’s a rite of passage. A Texas moment that can even be experienced by those of you “not from around here.”

The news of a meatless corny dog shook me up a bit. I like veggies as much as the next omnivore and I salute the farmers who grew the ingredients for this experiment. But a corny dog without meat is like church without a prayer. You kind of know you’re there, but leave feeling a bit empty.

So I started thinking about other things that would be less if they are “without” something important. And I started a list.

• Nachos without cheese
• Biscuits without gravy
• Cowboy without boots
• Summer without swimming
• Love without a kiss
• Donut without a hole
• Football without air (Sorry, Tom Brady.)
• Iced tea without sugar
• Adam without Eve
• Bonnie without Clyde

Feel free to keep this going.

One of the fun things about the State Fair is a few moments of excess. Indulging or over-indulging in fun and food.

At the end of the day, a meatless corny dog comes down to, “What’s the point?”