Starving Children

I was raised in New York City at a time when family members tended not to move far from the old neighborhood. Consequently I was guided by the presence of a number of women in my life - my Mother, Grandmothers, aunts , nuns, teachers, and so forth. In fact, one of my aunts was also a nun, so you can just imagine the control she had.

It was also a time of great difficulty for the people in Europe, especially the children. It was during and just at the close of World War II and people there had little to eat and often lived in homes under the most primitive of conditions. How do I know this? After all, I was only a boy. "Eat your breakfast/lunch/dinner (circle one) Joseph, the children in Europe are starving." It didn't matter where I was at the time, the woman in charge said that. I must admit that at the time I didn't see the connection between what I had on my plate and the plight of some kid in Europe. I still don't, but the pressure from all those women was great and I complied. Well, I still don't know why, but it worked. The children in Europe are no longer starving and haven't been for a long time.

As I grew into adulthood I was terrified, of course, that if I didn't eat everything, the starvation would start up again. Eventually I ballooned to about 216 pounds saving the children in Europe from starvation. Years later it occurred to me that perhaps I didn't need to finish everything on my plate. Maybe I could at least leave some of my dessert behind. I tried it, all the while closely watching the news wires and papers, looking for any sign that I had triggered the starvation thing again. Nothing happened, and now I'm down to a more respectable 175 pounds.

Then came the news about the children in Asia. That's right, they were starving. Sorry, I had Europe. I couldn't take on Asia. So my children got the children in Asia. Their Mother, Grandmothers, aunts and nuns told them to eat all their food because the children in Asia are starving and apparently that worked, too. Children in Asia are no longer starving, at least not that we hear about.