One Big Happy by Rick Detorie for October 18, 2020

Being a little hypocritical, aren’t we?

Well, there are.

I thought they were drinking CokeⓇ

Different generations had different starving peoples for mothers to use to guilt-out their kids. In my long-ago childhood mothers would refer to the starving Armenians. Later it was the Chinese. And much later, Biafrans, Ethiopians, and Sudanese. Who are we up to now? Syrians? Yemenis? I’ve lost track.

The starving children have moved to Africa? How did they get there from India where I was told they lived?

Is it science or the Discovery channel?

I once said “if the starving kids want this, send it to them”…. mom didn’t like it and and my arse felt it.

I never felt guilt over kids starving in India who’d not feel any better if I ate my food or not. I forced down what I could in those situations because it was clear that my mom wasn’t going to put up with resistance.

My philosophy is that, living here in the land of the over-weight, waste is defined as eating food you don’t want. Of course you shouldn’t take more than you want, but once you have it, pitch it or save it; don’t force it down (or force anyone else to eat it either).

My reply was always “Well send this food to them!”

My Mom: “So you don’t like dinner…. OK don’t eat!”… End the story

My mom used to tell me there were children starving in Africa. My brother and I came up with this plan to sell our unwanted dinners to those children. It never entered our minds that if they were starving they probably couldn’t afford to buy our food.

Everyone just put your air conditioers on high and open all your doors and windows. Got to help those poor bears out!

I would like to explain how it came to pass that I got fat.

Ladies and gentlemen, I got fat as a public service when I was a child, My mother said to me, “Clean the plate, because children are starving in Europe.” And I might point out that that was years before the Marshall Plan was ever heard of. So I would clean the plate, four, five, six times a day, Because somehow I felt that that would keep the children from starving in Europe. But I was wrong. They kept starving and I got fat.

—Allan Sherman

My parents grew up during WWII so not finishing your plate was not an option. Food was precious and that’s a lesson they taught all their kids. No need to mention the starving African children, it was this or seat in front of your plate until you ate it all. I held up once until 1 am.

Regarding the strip at Arcamax: Who uses a mobile at age 6?

That’s why I always finish my alcoholic beverage….there are sober people in Africa.

Not what I would state.