Humpday Happenings...
In today's economy, people are getting by with less. That's a fact.
And for as long as I can recall, we've BEEN doing more...with less.
Yet, there is one thing we cannot do WITHOUT...and that's food.
Sorry, just no getting around it...we need to eat in order to survive.
That's just the way the model was built, and how it's supposed to function.
America has long been chastised for being an "overweight" nation, and considering the food CHOICES we have (and in abundance), it's small wonder we're staring at generations with health concerns.
But let's look at the OTHER end of this consumption spectrum...the people who are apparently starving HERE...in THIS country.
We appear to have a growing problem with AMERICANS being on the short end of the food stick.
What bothers me is the fact that every American family winds up WASTING over a few HUNDRED POUNDS of food EVERY YEAR.
That adds the hell up...in a HURRY!
Don't believe me? Check THIS out:
http://www.soundvision.com/Info/poor/statistics.asp
Here we are, the land of plenty, and yet, we've got people who (according to statistics, which we all know can NEVER, ever be wrong) are starving in AMERICA.
Now, I've got a bit of a problem with this "sudden" increase of starvation (or at least the perception of it).
Sure, the economy sucks right now, and we've all got to yank in our belts another notch, but come on, how can SO MANY people be going hungry when food is in more than ample supply?
This is a case where my "cynicism" tends to get the best of me, and probably with good cause.
I grew up in a lower-middle class home - blue collar inner city working class folks.
Dad made about $75 (and change) per week busting ass at a printing plant, and mom took side jobs as a seamstress.
We were far from living the good life, but we always had food on our table.
It might have not been the BEST cut of meat, or the largest cut from the animal, but we just did not go hungry.
And...we NEVER had our hand OUT for assistance...to anyone.
(But Bob, that was a much different time...when jobs were plentiful, and the economy was great)
Maybe, (could have fooled me back then) but I think it speaks more to the "attitude" of my parents at that time.
They grew up during the Great Depression, and saw what it was like for over 25% of this nation's people to be OUT OF WORK.
They knew the value of a dollar, how to do for themselves, all while raising a child. Not an easy feat even in days like today.
They didn't grow up with fast food, and neither did I for the most part.
"You want fast food? Make a damn sandwich, 'cause that's AS FAST as it's gonna get..."
Yeah, that's what Dad would say IF he were here today.
I think there is a much larger issue here that is fueling this increase in "hunger" in America...
I believe that many people have forgotten how to do for themselves.
The "pioneer spirit" has been supplanted by having everyone else do things "we" seem are too mundane...or less than entertaining.
And that means COOKING.
Used to be that my MOM was THE go-to person for FOOD.
And in hard times, it was never unusual to have some type of SOUP for dinner...most ALL damn week.
In our house, Mom would make a "big" dinner on Sunday, and then we'd have the leftovers the following few days, until that was gone, and then it was SOUP-TIME (until the following Sunday).
It might have seemed all too "routine", but at least we ate...and ate well enough to not go begging about.
I really think the art of "family" cooking at home has been lost, although it may be seeing a resurgence with all the cooking shows on TV (if you're planning some "nouveus riche" or haute cuisine instead of plain old "meat & taters").
Now, I do all the cooking in OUR house...I'm good at it, love doing it, and I like to think I'm carrying on my Mom's "tradition" (in some small way). It does cost a lot less than hitting McDs damn near every day...and "It's better for 'ya..so sit down and eat it". (sorry, that was something Mom always said...)
In my neighborhood, I can see the evidence of embracing a fast food lifestyle every trash day, when bins brimming over with fast food containers line our streets, but then again, I AM talking an area that is "blighted", and replete with "poverty".
What really amazes me, is that the people who might be showing up at the local food banks, are the SAME ones pulling into the local Kroger lot in that nice, shiny Cadillac, wearing some fur-lined coat, coming to fill up a shopping cart with all the choice stuff (BBQ items and orange drink)...and paying for it with FOOD STAMPS.
Fact is, some people can become quite adept at "playing the system".
Are these people HUNGRY?
Probably not, at least not by the SIZE of some of these people behind the wheels of those Caddys, with a handbag full of "public assistance". Folks like that could stand to back away from the table a bit sooner.
Now, don't go thinking I'm ragging on "big" people...I'm ragging on those who are fraudulently taking YOUR money for THEIR food, feigning hunger and poverty, while not looking the least bit wanting for food.
I'm busting on those too damn lazy to cook for themselves. I'm at odds with people skewing the numbers data at our food banks, while smiling at their own "ingenuity" by doing so.
Granted, having people like THIS cook for themselves (indoors for a change) brings it's OWN set of problems. These people love to FALL ASLEEP "while cooking", which explains the number of house fires we see in my city. These are the same people who fall asleep with an infant next to them, then roll over and smother the child.
In other words...highly IRRESPONSIBLE PEOPLE.
Many in America have become a people that shy away from doing difficult things. We'd much rather kick back, and either snap our fingers and have it magically happen for us (not gonna happen), OR...have someone else do it FOR us (usually the taxpayers).
Tough times call for tough measures....that should be simple enough.
"When the going gets tough, the tough get going", was the old saying.
It's the old "taking the road less travelled" gig.
When you see people sending their kids off to school HUNGRY, when all these "parents" need to do is snag a box of cheap cereal at any store, a jug of milk and a damn spoon and put that all together, you sure don't have a "hunger" issue...
You've got a MOTIVATIONAL issue!
And that's costing a LOT more than that milk and cereal thing...for a lot more people, especially when you multiply that times a few million.
It's small wonder that school budgets are shot to hell, with freebie programs like this.
Now, if people are homeless, or living in some shelter, that's a different story altogether.
I'm talking about ALL those being given an *E* ticket "free-ride".
People like this see the word HUNGER as an open door to some more free sh*t, that's all.
Used to be a time when getting ONE NICKEL for candy was a REAL treat. Now, people toss a ten-spot at the kids, tell 'em to go "get something to eat", and that's that. What message does that send to our kids, anyway, hmm?
Someone doesn't give a damn somewhere.
The time has come for people to start being a LOT more responsible, especially to those children they saw fit to sire.
If you can't prepare a meal for YOURSELF, at least have the decency to NOT deny the children a damn meal, that YOU could most easily PREPARE, given all the choices out there.
Microwave ovens are cheap enough, and the last time I checked most rentals HAVE to have amenities such as REFRIGERATORS and RANGES (stoves to the old-fashioned people like me...LOL), so there is absolutely NO reason to NOT be able in some way to have a meal AT HOME...with whatever is passing for a "family".
Mom once said that the ONLY people who could NEVER (or should never) cook, are those who can't boil a damn pot of water.
She never said anything about being too damn lazy to boil that water, because in our day, NO ONE was ever that bad, and if they were, they hid it damn well.
So when I hear about anyone starving in AMERICA, I only think of those in the Appalachian regions back east. THAT is poverty!
I have no sympathy for those UNWILLING to take it upon their OWN shoulders to learn to cook or otherwise prepare something for themselves OR their kids. But it IS highly unfair to these kids in no small degree.
There is simply no excuse for not being able to open a $1 can of CHEF BOY, get some cereal or toast into your kids, instead of letting everyone else feed them. That's fostering a dangerous cycle of false entitlement.
People need to start making better choices...give up that fancy TV and make a dinner for the kids.
Walk past that MP3 player and go make your child some breakfast.
Put down the crack pipe, stop hanging out at the food bank (with your bullsh*t story about being poor), and get your sh*t in gear by doing the responsible thing for a change...you might even learn to like it.
Charity begins AT HOME...not by waiting for the next handout.
There's nothing wrong with being charitable...much of America is based in charity and charitable ways.
We love to help one another.
But we also need to realize that by helping people, we help ourselves.
Helping others do FOR themselves is the right thing, for all of us.
We teach by example...we learn by doing.
can't make it simpler than that, can we?
Do well today, make a difference, and...
Stay safe out there, America.