Taking For Granted

Heard a song not long ago which I’ve heard before called “Chicken Fry” which refers to simple pleasures. I can relate to it in many ways. It talks about things like enjoying a pair of jeans, cold beer, fried foods and sunrises.

I live a simple life, overall. While being rich is always a nice thought, I do not stress myself and never have with the goal of extreme wealth. I’m far more interested in security.

I’ll say that I did not grow up with much security. Not even safety was assured. Most people can say that in abstract but it’s a different sense in which I speak. I went to school often with a knife in my pocket. On several occasions I pulled that knife to make it home that day. Eventually, while being an adamant pacifist who studied to be a minister, I learned to fight. To an extreme. To defend myself and my family. Those skills have been used more times than I like.

Food was not a given. I won’t go into details. I will say it helped teach me to cook. Learned to make biscuits and gravy because that was all we would have at times. I’m no stranger to french fry sandwiches. So I know about food insecurity first hand. Fact of life, no animosity.

I spent years in restaurants because I was sure I would be able to eat.