"All the world's a stage, and the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts."

- William Shakespeare

Saturday, August 7, 2010

food for thought

I have this theory about food. Some of it was inspired by someone else, but I can’t remember who. So, I apologize, Someone Else, if you don’t appreciate me talking about your theories as if they were my own – but you changed my life. I just wish I could remember your name…

Here’s the theory: We live in a society that revolves too much around eating. We eat when we’re bored, we eat when we’re sad, we eat when we’re celebrating (anyone up for some birthday cake?), we eat when we’re watching movies (imagine going to the movie theatre and not chowing down a bag of popcorn with your mates!)… And then, of course, there’s breakfast, lunch and dinner. Special occasions come with feasts (insert name of holiday here: Christmas/Mother’s Day/Easter Dinner); speaking of Mother’s Day – who hasn’t made their mom a delicious buffet known as Breakfast in Bed? On Valentine’s Day we give people boxes of chocolate; “The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach;” flick on the T.V. and chances are pretty high you’ll see a hamburger smiling back at you.

Why do I bring all this up? Well I was in the middle of doing my laundry when I got bored. It took all my effort to keep my feet (and stomach) from taking me to the kitchen. I’m not actually hungry. I could probably use a glass of fruit juice, but that’s about it.

I’ve shared my theory with you, but I’m not sure what else I’m supposed to do with it. Am I crazy and just over analyzing everything, or is it society that’s crazy? I’d really love it if you said ‘society’. It could be a little bit of both though. Do we really need to eat something while sitting in a dark theatre with our eyes glued to a screen? I’m gonna go with no on that one.

It gets worse when you think about all the other societies and civilizations through history. With all the draughts and famines, people dying of starvation, or getting diseases from the horrible state their food was in. Drinking alcohol because it was safer than water… many people probably wouldn’t see that one as that bad… But back then, food was just food; sustenance. Now it’s so much more. Why?

I dunno… it’s just a theory.

I think I’ll go get that glass of fruit juice now. Dinner Time isn’t too far away anymore. It would be awesome if I wasn’t counting down the seconds though…

Geez! I just ate three hours ago. This is ridiculous…

Keep it real!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

very very true. and your welcome! I am that person who's theory you have stolen, "yo"... "gangster phrase". Prepare to get sued. Another thing to think about is the consumption of foods from other countries, and exporting/ Importing in general. North Americans are slowly killing themselves by eating mostly food from other geographical regions. The third world countries shall rise to the top, we have been played for fools, it's only a matter of time.

Anonymous said...

can you please hurry up and respond to my funny message?!

Larissa Benfey said...

Right, okay, let's start with,
Thank you for informing me that you're the one who's theory I stole. I'll be sure to give you the credit next time I bring it up. 'Anonymous', is that Greek? Any last name to accompany it or are you one of those cool cats that only goes by one name?
In regards to the other half of the message, how is it that North Americans are killing themselves by eating foreign foods. In the scenario you present, wouldn't the people of the other countries also be 'poisoned'?
I love foreign food. But not the stuff I had for dinner today. Not the greatest shwarma I've ever eaten.