The
other evening my family (and I) went to my oldest daughter’s softball
game. We enjoyed some burgers and fries from a local joint. During the
game, I was pitching a tennis ball to my middle daughter and some boys
from other families joined the fun. While playing, my five year old
approached me with a half eaten burger, handing it to me, letting me
know that he was finished. So I have my moments when I’m not picky with
food. Like I don’t have problem with kid’s goobers, and kid hands
touching my food. My pickiness usually has more to do with the quality
of ingredients. So my five year old hands me his half eaten burger, and
before ten seconds pass, I take a bite of that burger. No problem, it was a
good quality burger. One little kid immediately tells me that he saw
that burger fall on the ground. I was conflicted. I wanted to look
like a responsible adult, who makes responsible decisions, but
seriously, it tasted just fine to me. But, I nodded my head, like, I
knew what I had to do. Of course you throw this burger away! Whatevs!
As I walked away from him to “throw” the burger away, I kept looking
back at him, nodding like I totally agreed with him, and this burger was
history, aka, about to be trashed! But I totally wanted that burger,
and I still had a bite in my mouth, so I chewed slowly and savored it.
Then I looked back at the clean-freak kid, and nodded again and then
pointed to the burger and gave it a thumbs down! There was no way I was
going to eat a burger that was on the ground. At least that’s what I
hoped this kid would tell his parents and then they would totally think
that I was a responsible parent. Meanwhile, I’m still loving me some
burger, secretly. Then the moment comes, when I’m faced with the
trashcan. I look back and sure enough, this kid is keeping his eye on
me. Good grief, go jump in a puddle, or play tag with a friend, or
better yet, find a piece of ABC gum and live a little! Finally, I
swallowed my bite and trashed the rest of the “contaminated” burger, and
tried to enjoy the rest of my daughter’s softball game, with the “Clean
Burger Police” breathing down my neck!
