Easy Come Easily Dismissed

Thirty-to-forty percent of the food produced in America is wasted; not consumed. This suggests that mothers no longer tell their children to, "Clean your plate, there's kids starving in China." Then again the answer to America's propensity to not eat all their food at meal time was expressed by my father some seventy years ago. My mother had prepared a dish of liver &'onions for our family supper. My dad seemed to enjoy each bite while I struggled even with the smell much less the taste.  Finally, in frustration and curiosity I said to my father, "Do you like that stuff?" Dad looked at me puzzled and spoke, "Boy, you've never been hungry." He was correct. I had never stood in a soup line nor opened a tin of Tuna in a World War II fox hole.

I grew up more often with a belly full of foods of choice and with the options of refusal with substitutions nearby. That said, more so is the case with my children and grandchildren. Actually, the biggest change is we no longer leave foods mother prepared on our plates but walk away from  restaurant tables unconcerned about our next meal...and the next...and the next.

Today's America 'land of plenty' is observed in many areas. I am amused and yet still shocked seeing the blase' attitude regarding a 'baseball.' I played that game competitively from age 10-to-22.
The years spanned 1950-to-1962. Those baseball years could be characterized as "3-ball-games." The home team provided two brand new baseballs to the starting pitchers for warm up purpose and gave the umpire one additional baseball. Those '3' baseballs were the only baseballs to be used during a high school seven inning game. Near game's end those 3-baseballs were dirty and scuffed to the hurlers' delight who could make a scuffed baseball do more. The moral to the story? Baseball's didn't grown on trees. Today, I notice baseball's tossed  from major league games if the pitcher throws a ball that touches the ground. Some research suggests that approximately 100 baseballs are used in an average MLB 9-inning games. Thirty major league teams each play 162-games; you do the math. WOW! I remember those years playing sandlot baseball with my 12-year old buddies when we often times finished games with a broken bat held together with a screw and tape and a baseball with the cover stitches coming apart.

One thing for sure...there is no beer left in bottles at MLB games nor do you see uneaten hot dogs.
At Wrigley Field's 'friendly confines' a Cubbies' fan will spend a total of $16.00 for a beer and hot dog. Why, even a North Side yuppie knows there's a kid in Japan hungry for a $7.00 hot dog.