What will you have for lunch today? Since I had a big breakfast, I’ll probably have just a tossed salad and a cheesy breadstick from Schwann. In the following poem from How to Build a Better Mousetrap: Recollections and Reflections of a Family Caregiver, I emphasize the fact that you need money in order to eat.
Inside A
Lunchmeat, cheese, lettuce, onions,
tomatoes, mayonnaise abound.
When that’s all gone, there’s only bread.
In the absence of dough, there’s nothing but hunger.
What do you remember about lunch when you were growing up? When you went to school, did your mother pack a lunch for you, or did you eat a hot meal in the cafeteria? Did you ever trade food you didn’t like with friends for food you liked? Please feel free to share your memories by leaving a comment.
Abbie Johnson Taylor, Author of We Shall Overcome and How to Build a Better Mousetrap: Recollections and Reflections of a Family Caregiver
Before I was exiled to Jericho Hill School for the Deaf and Blind, Mom made me tasty sandwiches when I came home from school for lunch. Then I was subjected to some of the worst-tasting food at that horrid institution. When I was mainstreamed into the public system and boarded with a health nut, I had to endure some vile-tasting quack concoctions. I lived on my own at age 16 and was able to make what I wanted for lunch. I couldn't afford the cafeteria food as my dad gave me barely enough to live on. When I went on welfare in 1974, I suddenly had enough money to buy lunches. I also took a cooking class which provided me some tasty goodies. I still eat sandwiches, though I usually make waffles on Saturdays and eat the leftover ones on Sunday.
ReplyDeleteHi Bruce, my mother also made sandwiches, tuna salad, lunchmeat and cheese. I tried peanut butter and jelly but never developed a taste for it. When I went to school both at the Arizona State School for the Deaf and Blind and public schools, I ate in the cafeteria. At the Arizona school, meals were served family style so you could take what you wanted. In the public schools, we went through a serving line, and everything was dumped on our trays whether we wanted it or not. I often traded items I didn't like for extra chocolate pudding or canned fruit, especially in high school where there were no monitors.
DeleteNow, I make sandwiches and heat canned soup . Bill loves peanut butter and tomato sandwiches. I occasionally buy ready made sandwiches and soups from Schwann which are really good but expensive. Thank you for sharing your memories.