Herkamer was sitting in his burnt orange lounge chair watching television and was hungry. It was nearing dinner time, so Herkamer yelled out to Gertrude who was busy at her craft table and was deeply involved with a project., “Gerty, what's for dinner?” There was no answer, so he yelled again just a little louder, “What's for dinner, Gerty?” Still, there was no answer. So, he popped up from his chair, walked into the other room where Gertrude was and said, “Gerty, what's for dinner?”
Gertrude didn't even look up for concentrating on the feathers she was working with and said a nonchalant, “We're going out. Remember?” Herkamer didn't remember, but was quick to agree, so he asked, “Where do you want to go?” “I don't know,” responded Gertrude who was still working on her feathers, “Where do you want to go?” Herkamer answered, “How about Chinese?” “Nah, we had that a couple days ago?” she answered. Herkamer then asked, “Well, how about steak then?” “Nah, too heavy. I have trouble sleeping after a big meal like that,” Gertrude responded. “Okay, how about Mexican?” Herkamer continued. Gertrude looked up at Herkamer with a squinched face and said, “Now Herky, you know what happens to your stomach when we have Mexican.” “Oh yeah,” Herkamer agreed and thought again and asked, “How about a burger?” “Too fattening.” Gertrude responded. “A salad?” Herkamer questioned with a little frustration in his voice. “No, I'd like something with a little substance,” Gertrude answered casually as she continued to work. “Okay, how about a chicken salad?” Herkamer asked. “No, I had that with the girls for lunch on Wednesday,” Gertrude answered.
As Herkamer was becoming frustrated and more hungry by the moment, a commercial came on the television for children who were starving in Ethiopia. The commercial was on just loud enough for both Herkamer and Gertrude to hear. They watched as children ate very little per day, looked very sickly, and their eyes were sunken deeply into their heads. They watched as flies surrounded their swollen bellies on their little bodies, and the environment around them was filled with filth and animal refuse. The plea on the commercial was to help with just a nominal amount of money, and then the announcer said that the amount that a couple spends on one dinner would feed these children for a month.
Gertrude looked at Herkamer, and Herkamer looked back at Gertrude. Each of them had tears in their eyes when Gertrude asked, “How about peanut butter, and let's send our dinner to them?” Herkamer agreed, and they walked into the kitchen together to make the sandwiches.
Stay tuned tomorrow for another story. Same blog time. Same blog spot. Until tomorrow...Why Say More?
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