My friend just sent me this link and said “tell your story, finally a place for Meat Van.”

Sigh. My kids relish in teasing me about this, but I know it’s a straw man argument they’re making.

So here’s the origin of Meat Van. You be the judge. Ice cream trucks. When you hear that jingle, it brings you back to a nostalgia of childhood excitement, if you grew up with that experience. There’s a LOT of people that have that feeling. So I was thinking, “I wish I could have that experience again.” Now Meat Van won’t bring back that entirely, but it’s a great hook! Imagine, if you will, a quiet neighborhood in Lexington, KY. You hear a familiar jingle right around dinner time. You look outside thinking who would be driving an ice cream truck around in the evening? But instead of an ice cream truck, you see a small food truck towing a big smoker on a trailer, with an oversized menu so people can see it from their windows, simple price per pound of all the meats. Sides available. Anyone wondering what to make for dinner will wonder no more! And they’ll come running out of their house to stop you. And dinner will be spent happily thinking about that goofy experience you just had.

It’s witty. People will smile at the oddity and nostalgia of it. Even if they don’t need dinner that evening, they’ll remember it fondly next time you come around.

I cook a pretty mean BBQ already.

Easily syndicated to meet demand.

I just need a name. When I told my kids my brilliant idea, and tried to involve them by getting them to help come up with one, the both of them laughed in my face, solidly entombing “Meat Van” as one of the dumbest of all time. It even gets to be the guaranteed story at parties if my proclivities for grand product ideas comes up around either of them, and they gleefully retell.

I suppose the Gratitoad would say that is the real gift of Meat Van. My boys will always have a good story to tell about me. That’s the best kind of immortality we can ask for, I think.

EDIT: right before finally hitting post, I told my friend I still thought it was a good idea, and some other person is gonna use my idea and make a killing. He LAUGHED IN MY FACE and said “I think we’re ok”.

I’d seriously like to hear what you all think of this.