Day 267: Kids Say the Darnest Things !

My mom is currently visiting my sister and her family. She is spending a few months there to help my sister take care of her kids during the kids' summer break. I talked to my mom and my sister earlier today. My mom told me about a situation that happened recently.

My mom is pretty old school. She was raised in a 3rd world country and food was scarce. There was no wasting food. It was about living in a large family and every morsel of food was spoken for. If you didn't finish your food, there was someone else in the family that was more than willing to finish it off for you.

The kids (my niece and nephew) are 'Americanized' (if that is even a word). They were born in California. They were raised with numerous fast food joints in their surroundings. Of course there is always the odd visit to a fast food joint (with a coupon, of course). They live in a very comfortable house with a swimming pool. Each of their parents has a car. They have closets full of clothes. They have lots of toys. They live in the suburbs so they always have to drive every where. Because they live fairly close to Anaheim, there are frequent trips to Disneyland.

My mom and the kids were sitting eating pizza. The kids didn't eat the crust of the pizza. My mom said to the kids 'you have to finish off all your food'. My mom followed up by saying that there are many kids in Africa who don't have food to eat. My nephew, age 3, said to my mom 'then they can go to Costco to buy their food'. My mom and niece giggled at that comment. They know that African kids can't just drive to Costco to get their food. That comment from my nephew shows his innocence and Americanization.