hand-to-mouth

ben

When it rains, it pours.

Yesterday, food was really extravagant. I was alone yet the food I prepared was good for more than a dozen. I had this eagerness to cook so I excitedly put all the food ingredients in the pan. After dinner, I had a big burp that even my neighbors could hear.

I don't have a refrigerator. The left-overs were literally left on the table. Today, as I come home from work, the food's smell has turned sour. Too bad the food stinks and is inedible. As I throw them to the thrash bin, suddenly, I think of the people in my hometown who can't afford to eat even just a meal.

Food is scarce to these families who live a hand-to-mouth existence. Sometimes, the mothers collect some decent left-overs from fast food chains to be served on the plates of their children for dinner. I can imagine some happy little ones biting fried chicken left-overs.

I really feel bad. It is not my fault why they don't eat what I eat. But it tears my heart into two when I see myself throwing away the food which maybe the same food being served on the dining table of these families. I don't want to think that I am lucky and they are not. What if I am on their shoes, can I afford to eat their left-overs?