Mom and dad are both at work. The three siblings, a brother and sister both high school aged, and the younger sister, about 6 years old, are hungry.
The older sister puts water in a pot, and rips open a 16oz plastic bag of noodles.
Minutes later, serving a bowl for her sister, and then one for herself, the brother chimes in “hey, it’s my turn to eat, you ate yesterday”.
I was 17 and watching a documentary on pbs about the “untouchables” in egypt, a christian tribe relegated to trash collecting and poverty.
I had just happened to have sat down in front of the television with a big bowl of spaghetti and meatballs.
The scene struck me.
I look up and down between my bowl and the television.
The teenagers alternated eating days, 1lb of noodles, nothing else, the ration. They didn’t see the kid sister go without, but by measure of poverty they all went without.
One pound of plain durum wheat noodles is 1600 calories.
Their food for the day was 1600 calories split between 2 of the 3, the other fasting and switching places the next night.
800 calories every other day.
In the western world we’re coddled.
2000 calories a day food pyramid.
The kitchen is too hot?
You don’t feel like running to the store?
You don’t feel like cooking?
The food is simple, too plain, too spicy, no meat, with meat, the food isn’t your favorite, “I don’t want ___ tonight”, the grocery store was out of ___,
“too expensive”,
and so on.
We’re coddled.
Coddled people can become obese.
I just ate two bowls of pasta, one with some beef, one with “only” butter and cheese.
That’s blessed. We expect decadence.
Reality for many is like those egyptians. They had so little food that it was a big deal to just eat. They’d love to have my fridge, happily eating the greek yogurt I “don’t feel like” having.
The older siblings would view an american grocery store and food stamps as a huge blessing.
They could have $50 a person weekly, when what they’d had in egypt was equivalent to $7-$10 a week combined at american prices.
An hour a week of the federal minimum wage here buys all their weekly food in their situation there.
The west is coddled.
As long as we have grocery stores, even partially stocked, it’s a food blessing unprecedented throughout human history.
Thinking of this, I don’t have much sorrow for those who have complaint.
“Life is so tough” ;
You have food!
Life is mostly perspective.