June 29: Large Breakfast, Eggs, Revised Poem Tomorrow, New Cartoon

After I put my bags in one of those strong boxes at the station, I went into this little sandwich bar and had breakfast.  I had quite a large breakfast, for me--orange juice, bacon and eggs, toast and coffee.  Usually I just drink some orange juice.  I'm a very light eater.  I really am.  That's why I'm so damn skinny.  I was supposed to be on this diet where you eat a lot of starches and crap, to gain weight and all, but I didn't ever do it.  When I'm out somewhere, I generally just eat a Swiss cheese sandwich and a malted milk.  It isn't much, but you get quite a lot of vitamins in the malted milk.  H. V. Caulfield.  Holden Vitamin Caulfield.

Unlike Holden, I like to eat.  Holden's large breakfast sounds pretty good to me.  For more than a few years, I've been meeting my sisters at McDonald's every Saturday morning for breakfast.  It's a time for my kids to visit with their aunts, and it's a time for me to catch up on family gossip.  Food has always been a big part of family time for me.  Having eight siblings, I remember family dinners as being big and loud.  Several people talking at one time.  There would be arguments and teasing.  Sometimes big news.  Pregnancies.  Moves.  Jobs.  So my Saturday mornings at McDonald's are a natural extension of a family tradition.

Since my hours were cut at work a couple of weeks ago, my wife and I have been very careful with money.  We don't buy "extras" like pop and chips when we go grocery shopping.  I can't remember the last time I've been on Amazon.com.  I've told my daughter she needs to start doing chores for her aunts to earn some money to pay for her dance lessons.  Saturday morning at McDonald's is about the only time during the week I eat out, and my purchases are limited to a large pop and and sausage Mcmuffin.  $2.12.

I don't mind the belt tightening.  It happens every summer when the checks from the university stop coming.  This year, however, the belt is going to get really tight.  This paycheck-to-paycheck lifestyle is exhausting and discouraging.  No matter how hard I work (or want to work), I never seem to get ahead.  I know my case is not unusual.  In fact, my case is probably the norm for most people in this country.  Yet, I'm surrounded by coworkers at my two jobs (the hospital and the university) who are very lucky.  They aren't struggling to pay bills.  They can afford to take extended vacations.  And these people don't seem to think they're privileged or lucky in any way.  That's what really astounds me.  Doctors who complain how expensive plane tickets are.  Professors who think tenure is their right because they've lived in the bubble of academia their whole lives; they haven't worked a job for minimum wage since they were teenagers.

I have no idea where I'm going with this little rant this morning.  My thoughts are all over the place.  I guess what I'm trying to say is that I like being able to go to McDonald's on Saturday mornings.  It's a couple of hours of respite from a week of money and job worries.  That's not a bad buy for a little over two bucks.

Saint Marty will have an "Apology" revision for you tomorrow.  It may be a final draft.  Or not.

Confessions of Saint Marty