Sara is well-known - some might say almost infamous - for her ability to leave others confused and speechless without even really working at it or meaning to do so, just by simply wondering about something out loud.
So turn that around - have someone else’s offhanded remark or casually-voiced idle thought leave her thrown off-guard and quietly puzzled by its randomness.
(#00095)
“Food and politics are intrinsically linked, it goes back further than Jesus sharing bread with the apostles. And the famous calumny concerning Marie Antoinette,” pontificated Sara over this week’s culinary experiment. “Rubber chicken dinners are just an extension of the previous norm. Now food is being unsubtly used to control the masses. All the food deserts are also areas stricken by poverty. Corn subsidies make fast food plentiful, tastier and cheaper than the healthier choices. Work demands on bottom wages mean no other time for healthy activities, and far too many occupations involve long periods of sitting, so… adiposity is a foregone conclusion. Add to that the stigma of poverty and the equally high stigmas against adiposity… Rage and fury rise when assumptions run straight against contra-intuitive fact. Poor people have to choose how to spend what free time they have. Often devoting it to entertainment because they desperately need some variety of escape from the near-nightmare of reality. Cooked meals tend to be cheap, quick-cooked fare like ramen, rice and hot dogs. Lots and lots of carbs. Fresh vegetables are often both rare and expensive. It’s frequently cheaper and less bother to purchase pre-prepared food also full of calories. Hence… this stuff. Lo-cal, lo-cost, hopefully tasty meals with -ah- less of what ails one and more of the good things. I sourced all the ingredients from the nearest food-desert and coming up with as many tasty recipes as I can. Meals-per-purchase are a priority. Likewise minimal prep and cooking time. It’s nigh-impossible, but I’ve always appreciated a challenge.”
Jubes, listening to the entirety of all this, simply said, “Colostomy bag.”
Sara turned off the heat so she could think. She was still thinking hours later, after the assembled hordes had cleaned out the pots and, in a rare fit of charitable spirit, cleaned all utensils and gear.
Todd found her and gently removed the spatula from her hand. “Social math?”
“Jubes said something that’s been bothering me,” said Sara. “I was telling her about my experiment and she said two words that I just can’t fathom.”
“Which were…?”
“Colostomy bag.”
Todd boggled as well. “What were you workin’ on?”
“Lo-cal, lo-cost meals for people stuck in food deserts so as to aid in averting various stigma against them?”
“Yo, I get it. Colostomy bag. Sumpin’ to replace sumpin’ that someone else awready dun took away.”
“It’s not like I currently possess the resources to actually solve the problem…”
“That ain’t the trouble, babe,” Todd escorted her to the library. “C'mon an’ siddown. I got some ‘splainin’ to do…”
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