How lucky we are, life in America

Sunday is my day to actually eat breakfast rather than just sip half a cup of coffee before racing to work.

I forgot on Tuesday when I did my shopping I still had some bananas left over from last week, so I bought new ones.

Today I looked at the eggs and potatoes in my refrigerator, then noticed a mostly consumed box of Rice Krispys sitting on top of the refrigerator, saw the milk, cream, cheeses, and juice and began a debate. Shall I make eggs, toast (I had also bought a new loaf of bread to replace the one that turned moldy before I sat it out for the birds) and home fries, OR should I just make a bowl of a mix of Rice Krispys and Cheerios, with sliced bananas a little heavy cream (to hold them all down in the bowl) with a little sugar and some milk? I chose the last, then I found the older rotting bananas and threw them at the tomato garden where they may provide some fertilization or a meal for a ground hog.

Then I empty the Rice Krispies into the bowl and bury them under Cheerios covered with sliced banana (the new ones), sprinkle on some sugar, pour a little heavy cream around the edges and add milk. Sip some OJ then grab the cereal and some coffee and retire to the TV room.

There I watch an HBO documentary about the still ongoing(?!?) killings in Darfur and how both the media and the UN grew bored with the story and walked away. I learn about the refugee camps in Chad with over 350,000 refugees, listen to camp leaders complaining about how international aid to the camps has virtually ceased. Learn everyone there is hungry. I watch an interview in one of the UN run camps with a doctor or nurse who speaks English and who seems to be unusually thin for my expectation of a doctor or a nurse, and learn she sees 40 or 50 new cases of children in advanced malnutrition every week. Many die of starvation in the 12 UN camps because the food budgets have been cut or eliminated.

As I eat my breakfast and watch the footage of starving families I think of the untouched bread and fruit I just threw away into my garden and the untouched dozen eggs and cheese in my refrigerator. I also wonder, should I go to the mall and browse, or should I just stay planted by the television when I can debate on whether or not I should have chicken for lunch and hamburger for dinner, or should I just make up some tuna fish salad sandwiches for lunch?

Is there truly no way of evening out this scale?