An all-too-familiar scene is being repeated thousands of times around the country over this long holiday weekend. Folks are enjoying a church picnic, a family reunion, or a neighborhood block party (perhaps with a little more social distancing than usual). The hot dogs, hamburgers, or ribs are delicious; the weather is lovely; the conversation is sparkling. Then, out of the blue, someone utters the most frightening sentence in summer’s entire lexicon: “Who made the potato salad?”

Everyone freezes. Those five simple words strike terror in the heart of all who hear them. The answer frequently sparks a conversation that rapidly devolves into a verbal brawl. The questioner is saying much more than simply asking in whose kitchen the potato salad originated; they have thrown down the gauntlet.