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Just one more screed before bedtime
When I was a wee single mom some 6-ish years ago, with three daughters in three different schools in two different towns (part of the fun of a divorce), I applied to get my daughters in the free breakfast and lunch program. I filled out the USDA paperwork and then descended into the 9th Circle of Hell at one Alameda school as we tried to make good on the program. My daughter (12) went to the lunch line, they told her to “go fill out the papers” and sent her away hungry. I called the school and complained. The next day — repeat. The third day they sent her away hungry again and I blew…
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The Longest Night
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A Day of Grace (Part II)
I’ll be as nice as I can here, but the fact is I’m in such a foul mood. Really super-cranky. Not eating, or eating very little, all day will do that. I’ve also had a day of ups and downs emotionally. I find that by now, 6 p.m., almost dinner time, I am at the end of my rope, with no tolerance for nonsense; I am not concentrating well (I can’t think of the right word here, for example, so I’m just rewriting the sentence, and that keeps happening, and is frustrating as hell). Reader’s Digest version: hunger not good. Everything that Tony the Tiger told you about eating a…
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The Longest Night
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Today’s Plan (Part I)
So it’s the last day for those of us doing the JFSC, and Mr. Husband and I will fast instead of eat, to think about those who run out of food stamps before the end of the month. I won’t put any restrictions on the kids — they can eat whatever (they’ve been good sports all along). At first I thought about the Catholic Church’s guidelines for fasting, which is half breakfast, half lunch, regular dinner. But that seems excessive/abundant, maybe, for the real FS participant. What we’re gonna go with is this: We can have yesterday’s leftover coffee (I saved it especially) or one teabag for the whole day. As much…
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Judgement Day
So you think you can live on the food stamp budget for a month? Good on you! Do you think you could do it for two months? For three? For a year? Forever? How long til your preferred brand of fair trade, shade grown, organic decaf whole coffee beans runs out? How long til you slip a little and buy regular celery and regular apples and regular lettuce because it’s on sale, instead of 3x the cost for organics? How long before you buy a cheaper loaf of bread, a generic cheese instead of an artisanal brand? Two gallons of store-brand milk instead of one carton of organic vanilla soy? When will…
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The Hungry Man
My Great Aunt Doris is 100 now, and still kicking, still pretty lucid, with a tongue like a whiplash. She’s seen it all — the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression, two world wars (and more), prosperity, recession and the like. Her late husband Joe did a lot of work in the labor unions in the early 20th century, organizing and striking; he traveled the railroads, hopping freight cars and living with the hobos at times. Later, when they were married, he and Doris used to set an extra place at the table at every meal. “That’s for the hungry man,” Joe said. He also told me, many years ago, about hobo signs left on…
