I Will Not Make a Meal For You
I don’t know if it is the same everywhere, but where I live, I am often asked to make a meal for someone in need. I am not talking about the vagrant on the corner; I am referring to a fellow mom who is having a hard time. I do this willingly hoping never to have to ‘collect’ but expecting that if I need to, my peeps will be there for me.
I have made meals for friends who have had babies. Friends diagnosed with cancer. Friends who have had major surgery. Friends with children diagnosed with cancer. Friends who were spending every day with a parent in the hospital and their husbands still couldn’t boil water for pasta but could make it to McDonald’s. But I have a line.
Recently a meal request went around in the school community*. The reason? Instead of telling you outright because there is no fun in that, I produced a list of ten reasons I will not make a meal for a family. Hopefully, this list will clear things up for people approaching me in the future expecting a ‘yes’ response. One of these is the real reason. See if you can spot it.
- If your family had a flat tire on the highway and you were forced to change it yourself, I will not make a meal for you.
- If your family’s 14-year-old girl mistakenly deleted Snap Chat and ruined all her streaks, I will not make a meal for you.
- If you suffered the catastrophic loss of your pet “Fishy” when the teenager next door forgot to feed it, I will not make a meal for you.
- If the X-Box your tween wanted for his ‘I got a B in math’ present was sold out, I will not make a meal for you.
- If your dog underwent surgery and won’t stop licking his missing parts grossing everyone out, I will not make a meal for you.
- If you were forced to open your luggage at customs revealing nothing but dirty crotchless underpants and stolen hotel toiletries scaring your teens for life, I will not make a meal for you.
- If you tripped over a crack in the sidewalk and bit your tongue ‘really hard’ forcing you to talk funny, I will not make a meal for you (but I might mock you).
- If your housekeeper broke her wrist in a bar fight and was unable to make the beds, I will not make a meal for you.
- If your teen boy lost two fingers on holiday playing with the weight room equipment and the family was forced to finish their weeklong vacation without the digits, I will not make a meal for you.
- If your flight was delayed on holiday forcing you to miss your massage and your reservations to that ‘once in a lifetime’ restaurant, I will not make a meal for you.
Are any of these reasons good enough to make a meal for the family I ask? Are you compelled to bread chicken and make a sauce for Chicken Parma or brown some ground beef for chili? If so, the second toe on my left foot has been fusing since my vacation to Costa Rica last year. Sometimes I have residual pain that forces me off my feet, and I am compelled to call for pizza instead of making a home-cooked meal. (That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.)
*To be clear, the family in question said they did not want meals as they felt it was inappropriate. It was the school do-gooders who were trying to organize it on their behalf. Bravo family. You may have had a hard week, but you didn’t lose your good sense twice.
You can find me two other places on the interwebs today if you liked this. Scary Mommy here and Absolutely Prabulous here.
I love it. How about if your house is one of the last standing on your street because every other one is being torn down for to make room for monster houses? Will you cook for me then?
Only if you will cook for me 🙂
LOVE IT! Still laughing…
You know what I am making them…
I have a hangnail. Could I get a casserole here?
Barbara recently posted…Driving me crazy
Is it infected? Does it ooze into your sweetums’ meals? Can you no longer use the remote? If the answer to any of these questions is, ‘yes,’ then maybe 🙂
Nobody seems interested in asking me to cook. I wonder why?
You have done everything right. As the cool kids say, jelly!
If called upon I will make a meal with a lot of swearing and flames and possibly even a visit from the fire department because I feel it’s important to give people dinner and a show.
Oddly enough I’m rarely asked to make a second meal, although in college my eggplant Parmesan was frequently requested by my vegetarian friends.
Christopher recently posted…Poetry In Motion: Week One.
I love eggplant parma. I’ll ask for that, plus the show. You know how much I love the emergency rooms and another chance to visit is on my agenda.
What about if I’m in town and I is just so hongry? Feeeeeed me.
halfa1000miles recently posted…I Hate You Honey
I feed family and friends are family. Visitors get a meal without dislocating anything or even temporarily losing their eyesight. Perk of coming over. When’s your flight?
Hilarious! If I fall on my face at Zumba and need a boob job will you please make a meal for me? Your generosity deserves kudos cause I can barely cook for my own family let alone others! *shrieks*
I won’t make a meal for you, but I will bring you melon balls.
Hahahaha, this is brilliant! Loved your list! That should be published in the Parents’ Newsletter at every school! But my teenager will tell you that #2 should qualify as a real thing – that deserves a home baked lasagna while the whole family mourns that tragic loss. Thanks for sharing with #PasstheSauce
It happened, but not in our house thankfully. (That was not the family who needed a meal, but I think a bag of sugar snap peas in their letterbox would have been a hoot). Thanks for reading!