So, I have a new job at a company that buys produce from all over the state, packs it into custom ordered boxes, and then delivers it to the doorsteps of those who have subscribed to their weekly deliveries. At the moment, my job responsibilities fall into the packing and delivering category. Putting that Master’s Degree to use baby! (insert sarcasm) In all seriousness, I really like the company and the work and the fact that they gave me some delicious blueberries to take home the other day didn’t hurt either.
They also gave me some kale, but they didn’t actually mean to give it to me. I was packing it (200 5.5 oz bags of it – fun times) and had somehow managed to spill lots of little pieces on the floor. For a neat freak, I sure can be messy sometimes. I started to clean up all that I had spilled on the floor with my hands and asked what I should do with it. Obviously, we weren’t about to put it into a box to deliver out to people. The guy beside me told me I could just take it to the back and throw it away. He obviously did not realize who he was talking to. Throw away perfectly good food? Homie don’t play dat. So, I asked if I could take it home. He proceeded to tell me that I could take it home, that eating food that had fallen on the floor was kind of gross, and that whether or not I could take food that had fallen on the floor home was not the question he was expecting me to ask. Low standards people. I washed that junk and ate it and it was delicious. Is that gross? If you think so, please don’t tell me so. Also, don’t judge.
Speaking of vegetables, the packing of them and the eating of them, I have it seems become an accidental vegetarian. Gasp. I would have never imagined those words coming out of my mouth! Truth is, I am not actually a vegetarian, but due to a lack of imagination and certain time constraints, it seems that all I have eaten lately are fruits and vegetables. Breakfast is usually fruit and yogurt, lunch is a sandwhich (ok, ok, that usually does have meat on it), and then dinner is a sweet potato with honey, cinnamon, pecans, and dried cranberries. By the end of the day, I’m pretty much a picture of health. I’m glad I’m eating healthy and all, but truth be told homegirl has got to get some meat back in this diet and ASAP! Although, if they keep letting me pack produce and take home what I drop on the floor, I could probably substantially supplement my vegetarian lifestyle. Something worth considering.
Since my beloved employers gave me some blueberries the other day, I decided to eat them with my standard breakfast combination of yogurt, honey, vanilla, and pecans. And not just any pecans. These pecans were not only picked up out of our backyard by my mother, but also picked out by hand on many a cold winter night while she sat watching TV. And she gave me a whole gallon bag full of them! To top off my stellar combination, I threw a few chocolate chips in that bowl and there you have it – deliciousness in a bowl. You could have not payed me money 3 years ago to say that about this food combination. What has happened to me? Picture of health people. Picture of health. You too can eat this food combination and you too will love it. However, you most likely will not be able to eat it with some delicious (free) blueberries from the great guys you work with and you most definitely will not be able to eat it with pecans picked up and picked out with love from your mother! So grateful for her and her pecan picking up abilities!
As I’ve been driving around delivering boxes of freshly picked and packed produce to people’s homes, I’ve had lots of time to think. I’ve thought about how here in America I work for a company whose slogan involves something about produce from our backyard being delivered to your front door. In Africa, nobody was trying to get produce delivered to their front door. That’s because it was already in their backyard, where they grew it themselves. I drive through quaint little subdivisions passing cookie cutter home after cookie cutter home as I deliver produce so that people can get fresh fruits and vegetables. I remember the days of driving by little grass hut after little grass hut as I passed hordes of people with all of their produce loaded up onto their donkeys or the women’s backs headed to market to sell it. What a different world I live in these days.