Ilya S. Savenok/Getty; Courtesy Chipotle
You can now share a burrito with your favorite foodie comedian.
Aziz Ansari is one of the stars to join Chipotle’s “Cultivating Thought” author series, which prints and excerpts short pieces penned by authors, comedians and thought-leaders on their cups and bags, the food chain announced Tuesday. The stories are paired with intricate, line-drawn graphics that echo themes in each story.
The Parks and Recreation star’s takeout bag features an excerpt from his observational-funny work “Two Minutes” as well as an illustration by Deth P. Sun.
Courtesy Chipotle
In addition to Ansari, this installment’s writers include Amy Tan of The Joy Luck Club, Augusten Burroughs of Running with Scissors and Jeffrey Eugenides of Virgin Suicides.
Ansari said he is inspired by comedians like Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle and Louis C.K. because, “I think they are some of America’s greatest writers.” He was particularly motivated to write this piece. “The notion of being paralyzed and inconvenienced by the technology that was built to make our lives easier is fascinating to me,” he said. “I personally feel affected by it on a daily basis and I’m sure others are as well.”
This is the second time that novelist Jonathan Safran Foer, author of Everything is Illuminated and Extremely Loud & incredibly Close is cultivating the project. Last May, Foer tapped celebrities such as Sarah Silverman, Bill Hadar and Judd Apatow.
The new “Cultivating Thought” packaging will be available in all Chipotle locations in the coming weeks. In the meantime, read Ansari’s piece below and check out the rest of the authors’ works here.
“Two Minutes”
by Aziz Ansari
Why do we always want the best? I had to get a toothbrush the other day. Before I left my house, I searched “best toothbrush.” It seemed like the sensible thing to do.
As I typed in the searchbox, the auto-fill completed the thought immediately. I wasn’t alone in my toothbrush purchase insecurity. A flurry of articles came up with conflicting opinions and, for a moment, I felt stupid.
Every toothbrush I bought on a hunch has been fine. I’ve never been disappointed in a toothbrush. Why waste my time trying to find the best? Have you ever run into someone with no teeth and asked, “What happened?”
And they replied, “Bought the wrong toothbrush. Should have done more research.” Then again, I do use a toothbrush quite a bit. If you can get the best, why not?
I mentioned the dilemma to a friend. She said her dentist had given her a great toothbrush called Timbul. She claimed it was “amazing” and it “changed the game.”
A game-changing toothbrush!
I went on Amazon and found it. There were 192 reviews.
First review. 5 stars. “Great brushes.” From a guy delightfully named, Skip Smiley.
Could I trust him? I clicked to see his other reviews.
I soon began to question Mr. Smiley’s integrity. Dude was giving 5 stars to everything:
A diving snorkel: “Love it.”
The book, I, Alex Cross: “Great book.”
An ink cartridge: “Just fine.”
“Just fine” but still five stars? Huh? More research had to be done.
But then I thought about Skip Smiley. Maybe he figured it out. Maybe you just make confident decisions and feel great about them. Did Skip fret about which diving snorkel to buy? Doubtful. Instead of stressing out about other options and possibilities, he was swimming with his snorkel, making the best of life.
I decided to buy the toothbrush. And you know what?
It’s a great toothbrush.
—Morgan Gibson
