Yesterday my son and I went for a bike ride to the park and decided to swing by the grocery store on our way home to pick up a few things. When we went to check out I realized that I didn't bring my wallet to the park. We put back our groceries and my son was laughing about how it was his first time to go backwards through the grocery store.
He doesn't remember the times when he was little that we did the same thing - not because I forgot my wallet, but because our food stamps had run out or because the electric bill cleared a day early. Walking backwards through the grocery store was part of my childhood as well.
I don't work any harder now than I did then, or harder than my parents did when I was a kid, but chances are my kiddo will never have to walk backwards through the grocery store again (unless his forgetful mama forgets her wallet at home). Being a medical student is hard, but being a poor and single mom was much harder!
My son and I talked about how privileged we are to have the money we need for food now and how important it is for everyone to have access to fresh and healthy food. I told him about the food bank we used when we were at my undergraduate college and talked about how important it is to look out for each other and to share what you have especially when it is more than you need.
SNAP (food stamps) saves lives and grows doctors and teachers and bakers and artists and folks who grow up to change the world, but it seems like every year folks in Congress try to destroy it.
I want to live in a world where no kid walks backwards through the grocery store.
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