The Grand Old Poobahs in Washington

decided, apparently without hesitation

or compunction, that forty-eight

million people in their country

didn’t deserve/or even need, according to their

calculation, to eat or drink much on the dole.

After all, the national debt was out of control

and conscientious tea drinkers had to start

somewhere.

A seemingly intelligent person,

while all her other friends

at the table sat enjoying

complimentary cups of chicken noodle soup,

bowls of chips and spicy salsa,

marinated, raw

vegetables, not to mention,

entrees of

tilapia in tomato sauce, hot tamales and

flaming Fajitas,

said she was confused about food stamps

for a woman she stood behind in a grocery store

recently

who sent all her

food stamp

eligible food forward and then,

after the food stamps had been counted

against the food presented,

pulled

out a few bucks for something

like Two Buck Chuck.

The woman at the restaurant,

struggled over that

purchase of a bottle of

wine.  She wasn’t sure she liked that

the woman in the grocery store

used tax dollars to get

a bottle of cheap wine,

but, then again who was

she to judge? She pondered and wondered….

Was the woman in line,

because of her economic

circumstances, not allowed

a way to give herself a

cheap, legal high and

a few moments

to smooth out

all the stress of her life, which

the woman

standing

behind her in the

grocery line and all the rest

of her friends at the

Mexican restaurant

enjoying themselves

on chips and

salsa

while swilling

and swallowing

some

not-so-cheap cerveza

Mexicana,

would probably never, ever, by

the grace of God, experience?

At least the intelligent woman

was pondering, while

the Grand Old Poobahs in Washington

grabbed a lot of free food out of the

mouths of babes, that bottle of cheap wine,

left the tea behind

and headed for happy hour after a rigorous

week of not much of anything moral.