The Ephipany!

We’ve all heard it.

Eat your peas or your carrots or even the last bite of your chocolate cake. Why? Because there are hungry children who would love to have that food and you shouldn’t waste it.

It is ingrained into my DNA. If I throw out good food, I have nightmares. I wake up starving with empathy pains for anyone who might be hungry in the world. I have the memory of an elephant so if I throw out any amount of food, then I worry about it for days.

Therefore, if there are only two tablespoons of fried potatoes left, I find one of those tiny plastic containers and into the refrigerator it goes. Half a cup of green peas, into the plastic container and stack it under the fried potatoes. Sausage gravy? You got it…it’s all put into the refrigerator so I worry about throwing away good food.

So today was that day…the day before I’m going to be out of pocket for a couple of weeks. The thing ingrained into my DNA even more than throwing away food is leaving a dirty refrigerator behind when I leave town. That’s only one degree worse than going on a trip without wearing my best under britches…the ones with no holes and with good elastic.

What if the neighbors came to console Mr. B with macaroni and cheese casseroles and peach cobblers and couldn’t even find a place to put it? Merciful heavens, they might talk St. Peter into slamming the pearly gates right in my face for such a sin.

I opened the door and my sigh could be heard all the way to the ocean…west or east, it didn’t matter, maybe even both. I ran a sink full of soapy water and commenced to dumping the contents of container after container into the trash can. Then I tossed the smelly things into the water until the sink was full, washed them and started all over again. Kind of like that commercial about washing your hair…lather, rinse, repeat.

Why? Oh, why didn’t I just shut my eyes and toss it all right after supper each evening?

The epiphany came while I was dumping the last container. The bubble with writing in it appeared right over my head with flashing lights all around it.

If I save the food until it is growing green mold then no child anywhere in the world would want to eat it so then it’s okay to throw it out. Which means no guilt trip and no nightmares. Now I understand and it only took sixty plus years to see the light!