When snots are the secret ingredient:
“A pastrami sandwich on challah bread with matzo ball noodle soup. All of which was soaked in tears and snot. I remember every single detail of this day. Every smell, every sight, every sound, what the wind felt like on my skin, even which episode of Bob’s Burgers I watched.”
Whoever thought freshman 15 is a thing is most definitely wrong:
“In my first year of uni. I was really broke (who knew second hand textbooks, photocopying tonnes of papers, stationery etc etc were that expensive? hah) and couldn’t afford to be choosy about what I ate. I opted for a plain french baguette to fill meal gaps. It was cost effective – 10 years ago it only cost about $1.50 and could last for two meals. I ate it plain as the bread was salted. I remember thinking how pathetic this was – while many of my classmates were jetting off to Europe or nearby beaches for short trips in between semesters, here I was eating $1.50 baguette for lunch. I recalled one occasion I was so hungry I bit off the top of the baguette while carrying it home…and was spotted by a man in business suit. He couldn’t stop giggling at the ridiculousness of it.”
College meals are such sad meals:
“The cafeteria was closed, as it was past midnight. I unpacked my suitcase, and then pulled out a pack of instant noodles that were going to have to serve as my meals until I could find an apartment to move into. A sudden pang of sorrow hit me. I couldn’t believe I had finally left home. I couldn’t believe my family was halfway across the world in China while I was in Canada. I couldn’t believe that there would be more home-cooked meals to look forward to. I ate my meal in silence.”
It’s depressing eating something you hate..obviously:
“A gas station prepackaged ham and cheese sandwich. And I hate ham and cheese.”
The U.S. will change you:
“Backstory: I’m an Indian living in the United States and when I first came to the states, I was a vegetarian. My third day in the US, the international support services (ISS) office for my university decided to have sandwiches delivered for one of our orientation events. There were six types of sandwiches.Five of them had meat.The sixth one looked something like this: It pretty much only had lettuce and a couple pieces of tomatoes. It’s just so hard to sustain a vegetarian diet in the US.I knew then, I’d have to start eating meat. It was the most depressing meal of my life.”
When you allow yourself to be used for an experiment:
“For two weeks during this last summer I survived almost exclusively by drinking soylent. And no not the stuff made of human bodies from that one movie. But rather this powdered food. The experiment went well. I wasn’t hindered by my new diet and had plenty of energy throughout the day. In addition I saved tons of time that I would otherwise spend preparing food for myself. I only say it was a “sad” meal because it kind of takes away the social aspect of eating. I love sitting down for a meal with family and friends. In addition I’ll repeat that I didn’t find Soylent bad but it doesn’t have much of a flavor either. I’d really miss the different textures and flavors that traditional meals provide. Overall it was a pleasant experience and a fun experiment but I don’t think I’m ready to give up traditional food just yet.”
Eat it to save money, they said:
“During the difficult years after her nasty divorce, my mother had difficulty keeping up steady jobs. It was back in the late 90s. She took 3 jobs to support me financially. Her 8–12 am job was at a small cottage styled restaurant which was run by an elderly woman. Being a divorcee herself, the lady was very fond of my mommy.
So after her work finishes off, this kind lady would pack the complimentary basket breads- the one served to customers for free (garlic bread) and told my mother to feed me. To save our expenses, that would be our dinner and breakfast for the following day. When my mother couldn’t afford to get a proper cake for my birthday, we celebrated with heaps of garlic bread.We would be scraping the money left to manage with bills and grocery items. I remember skipping lunch many days because I had no pockey money. Sometimes; my lunch includes portions of leftover garlic bread from the previous night. I smelled like garlic.”