On the eating of free food

[bratfarrar]

I grew up ... not poor, but on the edge of it. Well, maybe we were poor. It's hard to tell in retrospect. We always had enough to eat and clean, mostly unragged clothes to wear; a roof over our heads and heat in the winter and water and electricity. But there was always an awareness that money was finite, and that the reason we moved when I was a

Comments

[timespirt]

I think we all feel that way at times.

[bratfarrar]

Sometimes I find it helps to say so out loud, and so be able to sort of look at it, and not just feel it.

[flingslass]

My older sister told me that Mum and Dad went without so we could have a decent meal. My dad was a linesman for the phone company so he should have been eating to keep going. He NEVER complained. As Mum said, if we didn't have the horses (he trained harness racing horses- trotters and pacers) he would have had no hobby. How could she take that away from him.

[bratfarrar]

For my dad, it was books. Is books. At some point I'll do a walk-through of our house, camera in hand, just so y'all can see what exactly I mean by that.

(What I mean is: the only room without at least one pile of books is the laundry room. What I mean is: we stack books up in front of the book cases because they're full. What I mean is: we have to clear books off the chairs so we can sit down, and off the table so we can eat.)

But it was the same sort of thing: they're his small pleasure, and so my mom could never deny him them. (And also, I think he buys them without even noticing, sometimes. Or maybe they breed.)

[flingslass]

A book Studfarm! (we had a horse studfarm :)). I know how horses breed, can you put a camera out to see how the books do it? Eww, that sounds creepy lol

[bratfarrar]

I think it's something that only happens in the dark when no one's looking. :D