At the beginning of this weekend, I wrote about slowing down and enjoying the company of family and food. Then along comes Mo with a click of his fingers produces the SNAP!!!
Naturally this made me think about where did all this hurry up and stop life we lead begin. When I was young, we sat down at the dinner table every night at six. A simple meal was cooked at home each weekday and then Sunday dinner tended to be a little more labor intense. Going "out to eat" was a major occasion.
There were fast food places of a sort for the burgeoning automobile society, but even the drive ins meant the food was cooked after you drove up and ordered from the girl on rollar skates.
Then virtually everyone had a television. Now the dinner table was replaced by the TV tray. Still the whole family in one place, but now staring away from each other at the screen in the den.
At school children were still served by food cooked by the cafeteria lady. They might grab french fries after school on the way home with their allowance, but being allowed off campus at noon to do it ... dream on!
This heralded the growth of the suburbs and the automobile culture grew even more. The freeways made it possible to get farther faster. Gas was cheap and you could live quite a ways from work with only two traffic jams per day. You want fast? California 1962 able to drive 90 MPH down the Ten. Don't cry, just cause you are sitting there breathing fumes at 10 MPH if you are lucky.
Now the children were coming home to empty houses while both parents worked. The freeways got fuller, the free time more scarce, and the families more disconnected. It was so much easier to just grab a bag to take home. You used to have to go inside and stand in line, but now you can just drive through to grab your carbs and sugars.
Feeding a family is now a snap! All we have sacrificed are marriages, families, peace, our bodies, and the environment. So go snap up the comfort food. You'll need it.
It has nothing to do with the article, but I just felt like throwing in some snapdragons.
16 comments:
School dinners is a big issue over here, they are trying to get rid of fast food in the school cafeterias but some parents are actually passing junk food through the school gates in a very misguided delusion that their kids that might starve if they were forced to eat healthy food!
Very good snap theme!
Oooh, I give this three snaps up!
Good post, Jamie.
To me, comfort food is the home-cooked meals like tonight we had pork roast,new potatoes, and corn pudding.
Happy MM!
~ Mo
Great job. You just can't go wrong with food when most of us love to eat. Lots of work with into this and it shows :)
The only positive thing with eating in front of the TV is that family members fight less ! Mouthful and watching !
Visited the US in the 70's, was 11 at the time, and was mightily impressed by the TV dinners... (And color TV, for that matter lol). Quite like to sit the family down 'round the table now, though!
oooh, good post! lots of memories here. We were never allowed to eat tv dinners in our house. It was always the sit down home made meal. and you're right, going out to eat was for a special occasion!
Good use of snap! The convenience afforded by today's technology is terrific, but we can't help longing for days gone by, when we actually had to interact daily with family and other people because we had none of these high-tech toys and services.
had to come back today - couldn't see most of the pictures from my home computer.
I'm glad I did - that picture of snapdragons is wonderful - my favorite shade of snaps: this buttery yellow. In my garden in Dayton, years ago, I had a perennial snapdragon that bloomed all season, year after year, in this delightful soul-sunning color!
Very good MM.
There are still a few of us around that value family time more than snapping from one activity to the other.
I'm glad you included the snapdragon photo.
Be well and enjoy the day.
Ugh, it's very true. And disturbing.
So thank you for ending it with a lovely picture of snap dragons!
Makes it all easier to stomach.
I'd have to give this post three snaps in a Z formation! You hit the nail right on the head!
I'm a stickler for family meals. It's not always easy with so many things going on, but I try my best to make sure that all four of us sit down and eat dinner together at least five nights a week. Sometimes, I admit, it's prepared food we've brought home and other times we eat at a restaurant, but at least we are together.
Thanks for stopping by my place.
Awesome post!
We eat fast food a couple of nights a week usually. Work late, no time for cooking, etc...times have definitely changed, for the good? I dunno...but it's changed!
This is a good insight to the word snap. Thought provoking and so true.
Later Y'all
I remember those tv dinners! How exciting when they first came out :-)
While I was in PA this weekend, I saw a couple of drive in restaurants, called Eat In. As we were driving by I saw it and exclaimed Eat In! My friend, who was driving said...Eden? ROFLMAO!
We won't even touch fast food around here. I joke about it...but actually either I cook or we go to a real restaurant. It's a shame we live in such a "hurry-up" world. Good post.
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