More often than not, you may have been a part of a social gathering where extra food might’ve been ordered and if you’re that one friend who gets the unused food packed for your reasons, I can understand the number of eyes rolling in your direction and giving you a stinking look.
But fear not, champ. Don’t worry and don’t hold any regard for the judgments which you’re subjected to.
Being a person who was born and has been brought up in a city like New Delhi, India, I’m no stranger to high-profile social gatherings; be it with my friends or for work.
Now for fairly simple reasons, I don’t like wasting food at restaurants so I get the remaining food packed, if any. What I don’t comprehend is that what’s so down market about it?
Is the idea to show off your bravado about wasting extra and unused food really that essential that you conveniently ignore the idea that the same food could’ve been eaten later by you or by a person in need.
No? Well, then you’re more inconsiderate and ignorant than I thought.
I don’t mean to preach as to how a major portion of our population goes to sleep on an empty stomach due to lack of resources but if you’re spending an obscene amount of money on a commodity which you don’t intend to utilize, might as well donate it to someone in need?
Common sense comes flying by and you nonchalantly wish to not wave back.
Let’s further dwell into the notion of being judged on getting your food packed.
Here, the idea of your typical South Delhi socialites or the so-called modern bourgeois is that somehow, you’re perceived as a miser who wishes to receive the worth of every penny that he spends if you’re getting your food packed.
Well, I did bloody pay for it with my own money, right? Pretty sure I can get it packed without your unnecessary sarcasm and quips about being a penny-saver.
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Where on one side we see the dumb, rich folks of metro cities condemning people, on the other side, there exist smart people too.
The Molecule Cafe in Gurugram feeds about 20-30 young and underprivileged kids with the extra, untouched food that is left with them every night and they make sure that even if the food is surplus, it isn’t “jhootha” or “half-eaten”.
Now that’s a decent way of making someone smile, isn’t it?
Similarly, La Opera Bakery in New Delhi also sends its unused breads to a nearby dog shelter. Not only helping poor children but also poor animals. Life isn’t that shitty after all if bakery owners like these exist.
It’s a 2-way relation, folks.
As a customer, your packed food may be used by you later or it could be given to someone in need so that it doesn’t go to waste just like that.
As a seller, the extra food can obviously be donated to underprivileged people to avoid its wastage.
In a country of food-based resources which are never made available to us in a stable manner, let’s just try and do our part to not be total snobs and help someone in need whenever we can?
Let pragmatism and values walk hand in hand in real life because I’ve only seen them in Alok Nath movies.
Don’t be an IDEAL citizen if you can’t be. But don’t be a snob either.
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http://edtimes.in/2017/05/can-stop-pseudo-social-media-mothers-day-celebrations-please/
