Perception and Hubris

The great trouble in human life is that witnessing and acting are two different operations.

The highest arrogance is the belief that we see in full clarity before we act.

A politician proposing budget cuts for reduced school lunch programs. The total belief that their moral calculus, the redirection of funds from the hungry, serves the greater good.

I was seven years old when I learned other kids were worth more than me.

My father was never able to afford school lunches. $2.50 was simply too much each day. My school lunch balance was often in the negatives.

On those days, I was only allowed to eat an American cheese sandwich with white bread, served with skim milk.

One day, I cried after lunch during recess. My teacher asked me what was wrong, and she told me that she would get me the forms for reduced school lunch. It would change the cost of lunch from $2.50 to $0.60. A reprieve. A possibility of normalcy.

I returned to school the next morning with the forms filled out. Within a week, my lunch cost was reduced.

Finally, I was no longer in debt just to eat. I was normal, just like every other kid.

For the first time, I could eat without shame.

Months later, the funds for the reduced lunch program were slashed. I no longer qualified.

I was in constant debt just to eat. The other kids ate well. Hearty sandwiches. Assorted fruit. Chocolate milk. I was always pulled to the side, my lunch taken, and given a cheese sandwich with skim milk.

I was made less human in the name of the greater good.

Would you defund affordable lunch programs if your own son were to starve?