A Full Stomach is a Full Stomach

As time went on some things changed and some remained the same. Because I was in high school and had to get up at the crack of dawn to catch the bus, I couldn’t make those early morning wash house runs. Babalu and I had to share the responsibility. The problem with him washing clothes was that he didn’t get the concept of “separating” clothes. Your white shirt may come back pink, and your pink shirt may come back blue. You never knew with him. In addition, Babalu wouldn’t get back in time, making my siblings late for school. Close to eight o’ clock, he would come home with a bag full of hot, scent-less clothes, and in a hurried manner, they would dive in looking for their items.

We didn’t have a lot of clothes. So in between the wash house runs, we had to hand wash certain things. The girls may have had two or three pairs of panties each. Nightly, we washed our panties with hand soap, concentrating on the seat, and hung them over the shower rod ( we never had a shower curtain) to dry. If they were damp the next morning, we’d iron dry them. The frouzy steam that rose from our panties proved that we needed something more than hand soap to wash them with. India and Simone are going to kill me…

We never wanted to miss school. Not because we thought grades were important, but because we thought FOOD was important. At school, we were guaranteed at least two hot meals. And according to my siblings, their elementary school teachers would call them back to the cafeteria for extra food. In the event you missed school, the only thing you were guaranteed was two dollars. That would get you a $0.49 ritz soda, two bags of $0.25 potato chips, and a pack of $0.50 cookies. That had to last until everyone else got home, at which time a full meal was served. The same thing applied during the summer. We made it our business to go to summer school. And if we didn’t go, we relied on “summer lunches” to keep us through the day. They were served in the “new projects”, located across the street from us. In a brown paper bag there would be a ham and cheese sandwich (at times, served in a hot dog bun), a juice, a milk, an apple and a cookie. And, almost always, we would save the cookie for later.

My son, Adrian, often complains that he is hungry. Most times, this complaint is in the background of a refrigerator and freezer full of food, reflecting a want rather than a need. I respond to his complaint with “A full stomach is a full stomach.” In other words, if you are truly hungry, you eat what is available, like we did…..