✅Eating for Free: The Price of Survival
✅How to Live with Little Money
Having dedicated my life to helping students in need, I had to retire after a 30 years because of my disabilities. However, I was not allowed to teach as an adjunct to help me with my bills because I would exceed the pay limits.You heard correctly, I can teach an extra class, but was not allowed to. I love to teach, but I am punished for trying to care for myself. I am alone and struggling.If someone told me this is what retirement means, I would have laughed. I dreamt of going to beaches, enjoying the sun, and having so much fun.Instead, I am traveling to food pantries in search of free food. Yes, I get a disabilities monthly check. Unfortunately, it is too little to survive on with all my hospital bills.Therefore, I go to food pantries and get free food. However, I am a vegan, and the choices are not good for me. I also avoid noodles, potatoes, and rice to control my weight. Guess what they give you at these places?Correct! Meat, noodles, potatoes and rice are offered. I pick those up and give them away to others.Guess who I meet there? A former Vietnam War Veteran, a Green Beret, a war hero. This is what he gets for dedicating his life to serve his country.✅Advertising and Overeating.Guess what we end up talking about? Brainwashing and Edward Bernays. Read my entry about that too. He is the first person in my life that I met who even knows Bernays. He becomes excited talking to me. I taught a class called Vietnam War Cinema and literature. I even visited Vietnam to learn more.Waiting two hours to fill out the paperwork to get the free food, we talk.How did we get to that conversation? People in America tend to overeat, and suffer from health concerns, like diabetes. I feel the real reason is that we are hooked on junk food is that we buy because of advertising.We have been brainwashed to buy products that we don’t need, e.g., processed food and fast food. When I was in Spain, the family I stayed with only bought fresh foods that they ate that day.They bought their fresh produce and fresh fruits daily. Their refrigerator was empty and was only for left-overs for the next day. None of them were overweight!My good friend who retired from the same school eats terrible food. He doesn’t know how to cook, so he buys frozen food and processed foods to cook as a way to cook. He is single and lives alone, like me.I survived cancer, but at a cost. My house is falling apart: my roof leaks, my plumbing is broken, and my kitchen floor is all broken up. I used to be able to fix most of this. My chemo mind doesn’t do well for such tasks now. Furthermore, I cannot afford to hire anyone to fix these.This is reward for dedicating my life to help others in need. I worry about my Green Beret friend. We deserve more. Blessings to all.This is my only source of extra income: Medium! Eat healthy!
