Lunch? What Pho?

Mister calls me up the other day and tells me They are going to lunch at Pho79, would I like to partake? Absolutely, whenever you're buying -which, as you all know that since I is a po' college stoodent and Mister's Missus, is all the time.

We are at Pho79, when the discussion of its name comes up. Why '79'? Why not 80, or 16, or 19,500?

For the uninitiated, Pho is noodle soup in the Vietnamese style. Very lovely, mostly beef broth with a scoop of noodles about the size of a large grapefruit, the most appetizing blend of seasoning and green onion slices, with whatever meat you select. I was skeptical at first; my father was in Vietnam, and his stories of the local cuisine were more for shock value than culinary delight, and most likely severely exaggerated.

This particular restaurant is one of a pair owned by the same family. The other is called Pho59 (or some other 50-number, it's just too early for me to think about). They have a lovely menu and I swear to God make the absolute best shrimp-filled spring rolls and beef fried eggs rolls you will ever have in America. I swears it, Precious!

Back to the issue: why 79? I'd love to ask, but since the staff speaks English about as well as I speak Vietnamese, we're left to ponder. Come to think of it, I pretty much only know "G.I. beau coup dinky dou" which, according to my father, means something like "Army soldiers are very insane." I'd agree with that.

Perhaps 79 was a very good year? Perhaps that's when they discovered Grey Poupon, or disproved Darwin's Theory of Evolution as scientific fact.

What was going on in '79? Let's consult The Yearbook!

• Skylab fell from orbit. Heads up, everyone!
  
• The death penalty resurfaced without too much complaint. Public hangings still cruel, unusual. No one asked me for my opinion. I was 6, but that hardly matters.
  
• "Overwhelming evidence" links smoking to cancer, heart and lung disease. And yet, the world still puffs away.
  
• China invaded Vietnam. That was hardly necessary.
  
• Ice clogged up the Great Lakes--has nothing to do with Cuyahoga fire.
• Voyager 1 sends back amazing pictures of Jupiter--your tv reception still sucks.
• Three Mile Island.
  
• Iran votes to be a Muslim republic. Are you listening, Mr. Bush? Mr. Bush? Hello? //hears the wind whistling...
  
• Cypriots agree to talk about reunification. O, progress! Thou art the breath of man!
• Oil was only $20 a barrel!
  
• Carter shakes up his cabinet. That was so helpful.
• Hurricane Frederic hits the Gulf Coast; 500,000 people evacuated in a timely fashion. Nation quickly forgets why we flee impending doom.
• It's a good year for Russian performance artists to defect to the US. Thankfully the trend doesn't catch on; mimes stay in France.
  
• American Embassy in Iran overrun, hostages taken. Joseph Subic begins new career as Tour Guide for Terrorists.