Chevy's

by DMC

Jackie and I had a long trip yesterday evening, so we were both famished. I'd had my small serving of rice and lentils that morning. Jackie'd had only rice. We were both going on 12 hours without food and groaning about all the tempting food joints we were passing with various evil signs such as "sirloin steak dinner, $9.99!"

After much whining, we decided we could stop at a Mexican place and get a side of food that would fit the diet. Jackie got a side of rice and beans. I had already eaten my rice and beans, so I ordered a side of sweet corn (much to the dismay of the waitress). Okay, so the sweet corn has sugar added and the rice and beans that Chevy's dishes up isn't exactly the stuff of a labor prison camp, but--damnit!--we didn't much care.

Of course, Jackie's serving of rice and beans was way more than any prisoner in a North Korean hard labor camp gets, so, with some gentle persuasion, she opted to eat half and take the rest home for another tasty meal in the future. And, yes, even that half is more generous a serving than the prisoners get!

Just for posterity, I snatched up my camera and took a snapshot. You can see my pitiful sweet corn next to her delightful feast (with a tiny bowl of salsa for flavoring if desired-- you should have seen the look the waiter gave us when we asked for salsa but no chips!). Since the salsa is also not on the labor prison menu, Jackie used it very sparingly (if at all -- I'm not even sure she put any on.) Obviously, salsa doesn't go with sweet corn, so I had to be content with my tiny morsel of food and unsweetened iced tea.

Oh, and I photoshopped in a green line to indicate the dividing line on her plate, which she was very conscientious about honoring!

And as a final note, as if some higher being was finally taking pity on me for all my suffering, today the scale shows me down one full pound since yesterday.