Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag Lunch [by Josh]

July 8, 2004 | By Adam Roberts | 2 Comments

[For three weeks, Josh & Katy blogsit]

Lately every pre-work morning has ended the same. I push back my breakfast dishes, pull the paper in front of me and read everything that isn’t about sports or Iraq. At five past eight I look up at the clock, say, “Damn! I should have left five minutes ago!” and proceed to finish the Jumble. Another couple pass before I jump up, swear again, and begin to hurriedly pack my lunch.

Growing up, lunchtime at school was a time of good nutrition and extreme envy of the kids who didn’t have to have it. Every day was a little duel fought out of paper bags:

Me: Carrot sticks!

You: Doritos!

Me: Apple juice box!

You: (Sticking the straw rebelliously into the bottom) Capri-sun!

Me: Leftover tofu and broccoli!

You: Salami sandwich with no lettuce!

Me: A Nature Valley granola bar which goes down like a mouthful of sand!

You: A chocolate chip granola bar in a flashy, name brand wrapper … and a chocolate pie … and a pack of Oreos!

For the most part trading was out of the question. My bargaining power was known throughout the school as shockingly low. Yet, occasionally, on rare instances, I did it. I would find myself with one of those little cracker-n-cheese spread combo packs with a little red spready tool while my neighbor ate my lasagna. Yeah, well it seemed like a good deal at the time.

Of course, I now prefer the leftover bag lunch to the packaged one. The enemy now, however, is time. Today I was happy to take the leftover homemade pizza and a peach. Time kept me from adding enough to it to make it a full meal. Damn time.

Oh well. Pizza and I skipped the break room and took a nice, albeit sweaty, walk to the park.

Peach came along too.

–josh

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