You Are What You Eat…

…Unless Your Parents Are Idiots And Send You To School With the Most Disgusting and Unhealthy Lunch EVER!

Phew! That title was a bit long. But oh so accurate.

We went on a trip today. I love trips!!

Yes, I know they are physically and mentally exhausting. Yes, I know that the screaming on the bus reaches near deafening levels. Yes, I know that every one gets so excited that they can barely control themselves. And yes, I know there is never a man around yet there are an entire group of boys who need to pee which means standing outside the bathroom and yelling empty threats until they come out. It means complaining. And long lines. And other school groups who seem to be led by rude and obnoxious adults who encourage their class to push. Yes, yes, yes, I KNOW all that…

Wait a minute…I lost my train of thought. Let’s see. I like field trips…because….um, well…now that I think about it…hmmm.

I love field trips because it always reminds me of just how young and sweet my friends are. I love bringing them places and seeing them excited about learning.

See? And you thought I couldn’t come up with anything good.

We were having a fabulous time. Fabulous! And then it was time for lunch. We sit down and open up our lunches. This is always very exciting for the kids. Almost all of them get free-and-reduced school lunch (read “dogfood and prison grade meat”) and so the experience of eating a lunch that their parents lovingly put together/bought for them is a big freakin’ deal. I know. I don’t really get it either.

Anyway, my friends are starting to eat and I’m frantically running around twisting caps, opening bags and inserting straws (those Capri suns are no joke!). I then start to monitor what everyone has, preparing to enforce my Sandwich First law. I get to one of my friends and notice that she is already eating her chips.

“Honey, you need to eat your sandwich first.”

“I don’t have one.”

“Well, what do you have?”

She shows me a bag of Doritos, a bag of Cheesy Poofs and a big bottle of Blue Sugary Liquid masquerading as “juice.”

WTF??

She tells me that is all her mother bought her. Her mom was in a hurry.

Hold on. I’ve been in a hurry too and grabbed a yogurt. Or a PB and J. My mom worked full time and raised me on her own, yet somehow I always managed to have a lunch that didn’t come exclusively from the Fats and Oils sections of the food pyramid.

And it’s not a money thing because those bags of chips are like $1.99 each…and if you have two bags, that’s about $4. At the corner store closest to my school you can get a turkey sandwich and a bottle of water for $4.50. I know because that is what I brought on the trip today.

I promptly gave my little friend half.