A woman pulled food out of the garbage and ate it today, across the aisle from my booth. I thought that was pretty clever -- if you're going to eat garbage, go someplace where you at least know that it's going to be fresh. I went over and handed her a couple of brownies and a protein bar, and she thanked me, and continued to pick through the trash can. She very politely piled her selections on a discarded paper plate, and then sat down and ate.
Of course, this brought to mind the question, "What is garbage?" It's a matter of degrees, clearly. Most of us wouldn't dream of eating out of the trash, but if we were really hungry and broke, I think we'd probably consider it. I'm reminded of a definition of weeds: Weeds are the plants you don't want there.
There is nothing inherently wrong with weeds. There is nothing inherently wrong with discarded food. Manufacturers and grocery stores throw out enormous amounts of food that is perfectly edible, and often securely packaged. Some people got wise to this practice and started "shopping" in the dumpsters. The stores responded by putting padlocks on the dumpsters. Because, you know, you can't have people taking perfectly good food for free. You can't make money that way.
It sickens me to know that we as a society value money more than one another. That we would rather let people in need go hungry than share our garbage with them.
Of course, this brought to mind the question, "What is garbage?" It's a matter of degrees, clearly. Most of us wouldn't dream of eating out of the trash, but if we were really hungry and broke, I think we'd probably consider it. I'm reminded of a definition of weeds: Weeds are the plants you don't want there.
There is nothing inherently wrong with weeds. There is nothing inherently wrong with discarded food. Manufacturers and grocery stores throw out enormous amounts of food that is perfectly edible, and often securely packaged. Some people got wise to this practice and started "shopping" in the dumpsters. The stores responded by putting padlocks on the dumpsters. Because, you know, you can't have people taking perfectly good food for free. You can't make money that way.
It sickens me to know that we as a society value money more than one another. That we would rather let people in need go hungry than share our garbage with them.
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