Ritz Crackers and Chicken Noodle Soup
“Stealing books?”
I had just placed a can of soup into the Little Free Food Pantry when an older man I know walked across the street to jokingly ask me if I was stealing from the Little Free Library I also stock just a few feet away. A sleeve of Ritz Crackers in my hand, I turned and smiled politely. Not a big grin, just one of the closed-mouth turned-up-lip smiles I use when I’m feeling politely noncommittal. Over his shoulder, I glanced at his sprawling brick mansion.
“We’ve seen people stop in their cars to take food,” he said. “You hope it goes to the ones who need it.”
My hand around the cracker sleeve went cold. I thought of the boy who couldn’t use a lice shampoo from my son’s school nurse because he had no place to wash his hair. He slept with his mother in their car.
Chef Boyardee
We know it’s highly processed. It comes with pop tops now, so someone living on the street is easily able to open the cans and heat up a meal at convenience stores where the staff turn a blind eye to anyone using their microwave. Or so I’ve been told.
“I guess you can’t monitor it,” the man said to me.
His sprawling brick home is one of the largest in town, historic. He and his wife contribute to good causes, sponsor fundraisers, concerts and plays.
He pointed to the little sign on the glass door: “Take what you NEED.”
What if the snacks go to people who don’t NEED them? How hungry do they have to be?
Cocoa Loops
We put little boxes of cereal in the pantry with plastic spoons taped to the sides. Cereals that kids like with little nutritional value. If your kid is hungry and crying, is it okay to make them smile with a box of sweetness?
Star-Kist Lunch to Go Tuna Kit
I don’t know. Maybe I’m missing something. Like a world where most of us might open our hands and hearts.
Nature Valley Granola Bars
A fortyish man in olive khakis, unshaven, and in need of a haircut, stopped at the little pantry, opened the door and stuffed the pockets of his brown sweatshirt with snacks. He looked like so many homeless people we pass on the sidewalk or the subway stairs. He didn’t see me in my car, sipping my paper cup of coffee, eating a doughnut. I left him with his dignity, but I might have said Hi, help yourself.
It’s for you.
INSTANT NOODLES 