Forest of the Plains

Yesterday I threw out some yogurt that had expired while we were in Indiana. (Actually, it may have expired before then…) I felt rather wasteful throwing away yogurt and thought about those poor children in China who would be glad for my yogurt. Then I remembered a client that I worked with.

I learned early in my career as a mental health case manager that what a kid ate for lunch could impact the rest of their day. For example, a former co-worker would regularly take McDonalds to her clients and eat it with them in the cafeteria in front of the other kids. The other kids, and especially the school staff who had to deal with the other kids, did not appreciate this.

So, when going to eat with my first grade client for lunch, I made sure to pack myself a lunch and he ate the regular school lunch. In packing my lunch, I tried to pack regular stuff. I packed a peanut butter sandwich, an apple, yogurt, and water.

I learned a lesson that day while my client looked longingly at my lunch. Having such food available at my house was the same as being able to eat lunch at McDonalds. Oh, how he looked at my yogurt! Then he commented that he knew his classroom teacher also ate yogurt each day for lunch. In his world, eating yogurt was a status symbol.