Have bagels become a universal food?

Growing up here in the New York-metropolitan area, good bagels were always to be found in the right deli or shop. Bagels could be found in certain areas of Boston or Philadelphia, but not everywhere. When I was a child, my parents had a vacation home on Cape Cod. Any guest who was invited had to meet the house requirement, bringing bagels and deli (mainly Hebrew National cold cuts and smoked fish). Most of what was brought would end up in the freezer and parceled out for Sunday breakfast or for company. A bagel could not be found on Cape Cod anywhere, much less a good bagel. Having attended Brandeis University, it was a school tradition to have bagels every Sunday morning for brunch. Now outside the Northeast who even knew what a brunch was? Now it is a universal term, at least in America. Any good bread is dependent not only on the baker's skills, the recipe, and the equipment, but also the water and humidity. So now, no matter where we go, we see some form of bagel. Is what Dunkin Donuts sells really a bagel? No. But most people would not know that without the crispy exterior and chewy interior of a good bagel, that what they are usually eating is not a bagel, but an adaptation of something trying to be a bagel, with butter rather than the good whipped creme cheese like Temptee (which is the best). Now the other day we took a drive up Route 15 and happened on a bagel spot which we've driven by quite a few times and always appears busy. We were pleasantly surprised to find a real New York style bagel with the correct consistency and taste. In the refrigerator was fresh creme cheese along with chive cheese and lox or white fish spread. Very nice for a bagel and a schmeer. Even this weekend, while on a college tour in New England, attending a reception for admitted students at one school, we were surprised to find bagels and creme cheese next to the fruit and coffee cake. There it dawned on me that bagels have become so endemic to American society, we can find them almost anywhere in one form or another, an increasingly universal food. We've even seen a bagel shop in Aix. But, don't worry, bagels won't be replacing a baguette anytime soon.